Former Facebook Exec Ali Rosenthal Joins MessageMe as COO

Former Facebook mobile exec Ali Rosenthal has been hired as COO for MessageMe, according to her blog post on Tumblr. She will report to CEO Arjun Sethi at the startup that makes a mobile application offering free text-, photo- and video messaging between smartphones.

Rosenthal joined the social network in 2006, when it had only four million users, and ended up working as part of Facebook’s business development and helped found its mobile unit. After leaving the company, she spent a year as an executive in residence at Greylock Partners.

While there, she worked with LittleInc Labs, which created the MessageMe product. In fact, Rosenthal has been an angel investor in the startup.

“Mobile has changed everything and continues to do so at breakneck pace,” wrote Rosenthal in her post. “Here at MessageMe, we have the opportunity to take full advantage of smartphone technology to make communication more personal, emotive and expressive.”

MessageMe, which claims it has five million users, has received about $12 million in funding from a range of venture and other investors, including True Ventures, First Round Capital, Google Ventures, SV Angel, Andreessen Horowitz, Social+Capital Partnership, as well as Greylock.