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Study by three tech-savvy Wharton MBAs on Location-based services, technology trends, and investment themes. Will make interesting reading for technology entrepreneurs and VCs interested in location-based services, and real-time and social media.
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This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Location Based Market Study:
Trends, Observations, and Investment
Yujin Chung, Wharton School of Business, MBA ‗10
Simon Lu, Wharton School of Business, MBA ‗11
Gautam Tambay, Wharton School of Business, MBA ‗10
Thanks to our sponsors and friends for all your support!
2
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
• Professor Rawley, Management Department, Wharton
• Steve Ennen, Wharton Interactive Media Initiative
• Jason Finkelstein, WaveMarket
• Josh Wais, Qualcomm Ventures
• Dalton Caldwell, picplz
• Frank Chen, Ronny Conway; Andreessen Horowitz
• Phineas Barnes, First Round Capital
• Rebecca Lynn, Morgenthaler Ventures
• Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures
• Tony Zhang, Khosla Ventures
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Agenda
3
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
• What is going on with location?
• Why is location important?
• How do these startups grow?
• Where do you invest in the location category?
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Location can be organized around a map;
Research focuses Above-the-Map
4
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Layer Description Example
“Above the map”User-interactive layer
• Applications
• Application platforms
“On the map”Visual representation and
contextual layer
• Geo data
• Location data
• Contextual
• API‘s
“Below the map”Hardware / software
infrastructure layer
• Infrastructure
• Device
• Chipset
• Carrier
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Location is on the mind of everyone, from VCs…
5
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Select Invested
Venture Capital Firms
Recent Location-Enabled
Mobile Investments
Total Invested
Amount (MM)
$10.4
1.4
1.4
17.1
4.8
9.5
17.4
16.8
1.7
0.5
Source: CrunchBase.
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
…to the blogosphere…
6
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Blog / Publication Date Comments
Jan-09 ―…millions of people are now walking around with a gizmo in their pocket
that not only knows where they are but also plugs into the Internet to share
that info, merge it with online databases, and find out what—and who—is in
the immediate vicinity… Simply put, location changes everything. This
one input—our coordinates—has the potential to change all the
outputs. Where we shop, who we talk to, what we read, what we search for,
where we go—they all change once we merge location and the Web.‖
Mar-10 ―Location-based mobile spending will hit $4 billion in 2015, up from
$34 million in 2009… commitments increasingly [allocated] to smart
phones, Kindles, iPads,
portable gaming devices and even cars. What used to be called point-of-
purchase is now called mobile advertising… mobile can be an extension
of a retailer's storefront.‖
Mar-10 To someone not in their 20s whose location generally isn‘t that interesting to
others… the idea of handing over your privacy with both hands to strap on a
digital ankle bracelet sounds profoundly unattractive… but to a younger
cohort that lives on the grid, the location of people you know and care
about is vital information, the coin of the realm.
Jan-10 Location-based ads will become mainstream as advertising and the
mobile web become location-aware. Brands will start to use location-
based apps to drive sales and marketing efforts.
Dec-09 Location, as a trend, remains on fire… And you can expect the big players
to step up their game in the space as well, as they all look to connect the
social online world with the real world — a real world that has also has a lot
of money potentially tied to location.
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
…to Web 2.0 incumbents
7
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Company Date Event / News / Rumors
Mar-10
Dec-09
• Twitter turns on feature to directly tweet your location
• Twitter acquires Mixer Labs, parent company of GeoAPI
Mar-10
Feb-10
• ―Facebook Will Allow Users to Share Location‖, NYTimes
• Rumors circulate of Facebook ‗s potential interest to acquire Loopt
Mar-10
Feb-10
• TechCrunch reports that ―Location may get a central place in
Google‘s web search redesign‖
• Google launches Buzz (a social network with embed location)
Mar-10 • Launches sub-country Region Targeting (proximity advertising)
Jan-10 • Yelp turns on location ―Check-in‖ features
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Data, technology, distribution, and access are
enabling location based services…
8This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Catalyst Summary Opportunities
Improving Location
Determination
• Higher quality and
real-time data streams
Complementary
technology in the
handset (sensors)
• Smartphone adoption; location
is more useful when combined
with other media
• Novel applications
beyond web apps
Increasing adoption of
mobile internet
• 20% CAGR in Mobile Internet Users • Ubiquity of location
information
Mobile "ecosystems"/
app stores / APIs
• Centralized application stores accelerated distribution of
location-aware applications; 70% economics to participants
vs 30-50% with carrier-direct deals
• Independent
application
development
Precision (Meters) Time to Fix (Sec) Cost
100 to 5,000 10 ~$0.06 per lookup
5 to 20 1 Fixed $ per device
5169
8498
111126
US Mobile Internet Users (MM)
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
…leading to robust market estimates
9
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
15,472
31,668
61,836
89,366
119,075
177,018
North American Consumer LBS Subscribers ('000s)
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
$327
$714
$1,299
$1,863
$2,043
$2,708
North American Consumer LBS Revenues (MM)
63% CAGRSubscribers
53% CAGRRevenues
Source: Gartner.
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Location based application development is
flowering on iPhone and Android
10
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Source: Skyhook Wireless, Jan / Feb ‗10
iPhone Android
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Agenda
11
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
• What is going on with location?
• Why is location important?
• How do these startups grow?
• Where do you invest in the location category?
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Why is location so interesting?
12
Data:
Bridging online presence with physical world
Were they here before? How often?
When? Coming back?
Why did they come here? Were they
influenced? How so?
Who is here? Are they
alone? What do they share?
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Real-time data in the physical world is
fragmented / incomplete, thus limiting action
• Current methods gathers limited real-time metrics and
are not obtained by smaller venues
13
Membership Cards &
Loyalty Programs
Surveys Point of Sales Systems
• Data limited to a single
environment
• High costs to implement
effectively
• Difficult to collect
without incentives or
promotions
• Data stales
• Focuses only on
transactions
• Plus similar limitations
of loyalty programs
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
What if we curate data which enables web
analytics to the physical world?
14
Data Types Data Aggregators Data Consumers
Web 2.0 Example
• Prior Visits
• Referrals
• Uniques
• Bounces
• Pageviews
• Session time
• Google Analytics
• Webtrends
• Alexa
• Compete
• Quantcast
• The Huffington Post
• Nestle
• Yelp
• Discount Tire
• Microsoft
Location-Based Services Example
• Total Check-Ins
• Check-Ins w/ Friends
• Check-Ins at New Places
• Check-Ins at Other Venues
• Foursquare
• Gowalla
• Google Buzz
• Bravo, MTV
• Marc Jacobs
• Tasti D-Lite
• Zagat
• The neighborhood bar
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
LBS data goes beyond coordinates and
deliver a web-like picture of behavior
15
W H E R E W H O W H A T W H E N W H Y H O W
Geo-
awareness
Social graph
and group
dynamics
Context Frequency,
time and
duration
Intent Path to arrival
and path to
exit
• Fixing on
latitude and
longitude
coordinates
• Surfacing
traffic patterns
• Identifying
segments or
social
networks
correlated to a
location
• Uncovering
network
tightness
between
nodes in the
physical world
• Revealing the
real identity of
a location
• Attributing
location‘s
characteristics
to one‘s
behavior and
preferences
• Signaling
degrees of
loyalties
• Correlating
presence with
temporal
events and
seasonality
• Measuring
engagement
• Understanding
transactional
nature at a
location
• Maximizing
positive
incentives,
minimizing
negative
• Identifying
influences
driving traffic
• Determining
linkages
between
locations
Basic Data Rich Data
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Enables the data hungry with a new tool
16
Segment Examples Illustrative Decision Makers Illustrative Outcomes
Local
Venues,
Groups,
Teams
• Establishment owners
• General managers
• Employing unique and effective
loyalty programs
Consumer
Brands
• Brand Managers
• Ad Agencies
• Leveraging a customer‘s social
capital and converting him/her
into a brand ambassador
Media and
Content
Owners
• Editors
• Marketing Directors
• Extending total engagement by
promoting physical world
interactions
Retailers • Social Media Directors
• Loyalty Program Managers
• Experimenting with cross-sell
opportunities amongst local
affiliates, new response
metrics, or real-time promotions
Events and
Destinations
• Event Organizers
• Business Development
• Enhancing customer
experience through
personalized services and
discovery
Note: Illustrative decision makers and outcomes not limited to individual segments.
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Value of LBS Data to Individual Data Consumers
WHERE:
Geo-
Awareness
WHO:
Social Graph
WHAT:
Context
WHEN:
Frequency,
time and
duration
WHY:
Intent
HOW:
Path to arrival
and path to
exit
Local
Venues
Consumer
Brands
Media and
Content
Owners
Retailers
Events and
Destinations
…but each sees signals in the data uniquely
17
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Thus, the data can be captured & has value,
but we lack an efficient model to generate it
18
Data TypesData
AggregatorsData Consumers
Geo-awareness
Social Graph
Context
Temporal
Intent
Path to Discovery
Local Venues
Consumer Brands
Media Owners
Content Owners
Retailers
Events
Destinations
Require
mechanism to
incentivize data
creation
+
Open platform to
encourage
volume
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Multiple models are competing as the
standard to generate this data
19
Active BroadcastGame Driven
BroadcastPassive Broadcast
Description User actively notifies system
upon arriving at a location or
venue
Player notifies system of
location to enhance game
play
Location notification
secondary to primary
behavior
Example
Companies
Details • Leverages existing social
network
• Motivates location discovery
and sharing
• Competitive dynamics tied
to location, commonly
rewarding future check-ins
• Check-ins incented by
leveling-up, unlocking
rewards, or earning virtual
currency
• Other models centered on
discovery games and
recreational exploration
• Location an after-thought of
another action
• Examples primary actions
include tweeting, texting,
group chatting, scanning a
barcode or taking a photo
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Conclusion #1: Location Check-Ins = Clicks
20
At critical mass, the physical world check-in becomes as telling as the online click
Classic Web Analytics LBS Equivalent
Total Visits per User Total Check-Ins per Customer
Unique Visitors / Pageviews Total New Check-Ins
Returning Visits Repeat Customer Check-Ins
Pageviews by Server Time Check-Ins by Venue Time
Bounce Percentage Sequential Check-Ins with Short Gaps
Upstream / Downstream Sites Sequential Check-Ins at local affiliates
Referrer Check-Ins driven by API or Internal Tips
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Agenda
21
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
• What is going on with location?
• Why is location important?
• How do these startups grow?
• Where do you invest in the location category?
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Data creation starts with virtual incentives but
evolves into robust user engagement
22
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Intangible Content Tangible
• Check-ins
• Points
• Virtual goods
• Prestige
• Recommendations
• via location
• via social graph
• Associated content
• Photos
• Videos
• Tweets
• Discounts for
• Customer loyalty
• Recommendations
• Social strength
• Venue analytics
Incentives Development
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
LBS consumer value creation cycle… 3 phases
23
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Consumer
LBS company
Value Provider
Location data /
Eyeballs
Intangible rewards / Content
Consumer data
Tactical benefits (coupons, discounts)
Influence immediate
purchase behavior
Improved customer service
(e.g. more conveniently
located stores)
Strategic information (e.g. consumer behavior patterns)
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 32
31
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Phase 1: User engagement
24
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Description
Success Factors
Eco-system opportunities
• Engage end-users through a quality incentive structure
‒ Game mechanics
‒ Social information
‒ Local content
• User engagement (get to inflexion point - first 100k users?)
‒ Understanding of social mechanics
‒ UI and design
• Monitoring quality of content
‒ Editorial quality for reviews, ensuring fairness for check-ins
• Platform (e.g., Foursquare API)
• Check-in aggregators (e.g., SocialGreat)
• Local content aggregators (e.g., Yelp)
• Geo-location enablers (e.g., Skyhook Wireless)
• Plays that leverage Foursquare and other location APIs (e.g.,
LocaModa allows venues to display check-ins on a digital out-of-home
screen, encouraging patrons to visit)
1
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Phase 2: Provide tangible value to consumers
25
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Description
Success Factors
Eco-system opportunities
• Liaise with businesses to provide coupons and discounts based on
user‘s behavior patterns
• Hence, influence immediate purchase behavior
• Business Development is key at this stage
• Focus deals on ‗benefit to user base‘ rather than revenue potential for
LBS company
• Mobile couponing (e.g., an ad network for Location-based / real-time
coupons and advertising)
2
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Phase 3: The pot of gold in the data hose
26
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Description
Success Factors
Eco-system opportunities
• Monetize the data-hose through sophisticated analytics
• Use analytics to drive strategic decisions for businesses
‒ e.g., Where should Starbucks open its next location in
Philadelphia?
‒ e.g., Dynamic pricing based on time and crowd
• Quality and completeness of data generated
• Development of the surrounding ecosystem
‒ e.g., Analytics companies that can mine this data
‒ e.g., API that other companies can user to mine the data hose
• Analytics companies – turn location data into business intelligence
‒ Localytics-like companies could move into this space
‒ e.g., Sell aggregate data about coffee drinkers in Atlanta to Peets
• Local ad campaign managers (e.g. Hootsuite)
3
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Phase 3: The Foursquare dashboard for local
businesses is only the tip of the iceberg
27
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Next step is to augment data stream with purchase information (e.g. Blippy)
and provide more aggregated insights to businesses
3
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Intangible value to users
Content and tangible
benefits to users
Data hose: tangible
benefits to businesses
Conclusion # 2: Real, tangible gains for consumers
must follow the initial intangible incentives
28
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
• Virtual prizes and social
prestige are good for initial
buzz and user engagement
• Initial buzz, leader board
dynamics lead to the birth of
super users, but can be
fad-ish.
• Increasing dependence on
super-users for content,
recommendations
• Typical for user-
generated content
(e.g. YouTube, Blogs)
• Super-users need to
motivated through
tangible incentives
• (e.g., rev-share in
YouTube, mayor
discounts on
Foursquare)
• Once a stable consumer
incentive ecosystem is
created, businesses can find
value in the data hose
• Use location and behavior
data to drive tangible,
strategic value for
businesses through
analytics
2 31
Over time, users get fatigued with just intangible incentives
Focus on consumers first, business partners second (Silicon Valley adage)
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Agenda
29
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
• What is going on with location?
• Why is location important?
• How do these startups grow?
• Where do you invest in the location category?
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Above-the-Map landscape dominated by social
network apps, $97M in funding the last 3 years
30
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
VC Funding by Sector (2007-10)
(Total: $97M)
Source: Crunchbase directory of applications with ―location-based‖ tag
Firms by Sector
N = 68
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Evaluate against data quality and data creation
31
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Classic
VC FiltersData Quality and Uniqueness Sustainability of Datastream
Team • CTO / Architect
• Marketing innovation (e.g., how to
keep users engaged?)
• UI genius
• Business development focused on user
engagement
Market • Value of datastreams
• Potential for business model
(e.g., Commerce, advertising,
subscription)
• User lifetime value analysis
Marketing Strategy • User acquisition (e.g., viral loop
features)
• Engagement (e.g., check-ins, deals)
• Early user behavior understanding
• User acquisition cost analysis
• Consumption media
Technology • Database management / scalability
• Site scalability
• Heavy analytics
• Scalable for brand / venue partners
New Data
Lens
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Based on our framework, Custom maps and
Gaming are attractive sectors for investigation
32This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
# of
firms
VC
Funding
Data Quality /
UniquenessValue of Data
Data
SustainabilityAttractiveness?
Advertising 3 $0.3
Commerce 11 $1.3
Communication 7 $1.4
Content 9 $23.1
Custom maps 6 $4.0
Gaming 6 $10.3
Platform 11 $18.1
Social network 15 $33.5
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Why Custom Maps is so interesting
33This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Classic
VC FiltersData Quality and Uniqueness Sustainability of Datastream
Team
• Background in custom map
development (e.g., Navteq, Google
maps, Teleatlas)
• Smart compass integration
• Clean UI
• Business development experience with top
venues
• Predictive analytics experience
Market
• Pain point: Google maps and similar
services are too broad and
contextually generalized
• Microcontent enables contextually relevant
offers and advertising
• Strong opportunity for brand enhancement
Marketing Strategy
• Focus on venue niches with long
session time (e.g., theme parks, malls,
parking garages)
• Enable quick share download for social
enhancement (e.g., group trips)
• Partnership opportunities with travel
sites and tour guide organizations
• Large venue tie-ins (e.g., Disneyland
sponsorship ―download the map right now‖)
• Big event tie-ins
• Sporting
• Concerts
• Festivals
• Conferences
Technology
• Computationally easier to control push
recommendations and offers given
limited data set
• Allows developers to focus on timed
recommendations and offers
• Build out venue service for data access and
customer activity analysis
• Scalable map creation
New Data
Lens
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Out of the Custom Maps category, Micello
presents a strong fit with our investment thesis
34
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Name Description
Founding
CEO
VC
funding Investors
Mapicurious Mapicurious provides point of interest collection and distribution, custom branded mapping
applications, and georeferencing services. Mapicurious.com is hub of user generated map
content.
Brad
Gilreath
N/A N/A
Micello Bringing the pulse of an indoor location where people gather - shopping mall, convention
center, hotel/casinos, theme parks, stadiums .. Micello provides a unique platform with an
interactive map of the place on your mobile device. There API‘s enable building and delivery
of rich content based on ―What‘s Happening Inside‖ a place of interest.
Ankit
Agarwal
N/A Seed
My City Way My City Way is a location-aware platform that helps discover the world around you - soon to
be available in over 40 cities around the world on a variety of mobile devices. With more than
50 hyper-local apps rolled into each city-specific guide, My City Way is a one-stop application
platform to discover, interact with, experience and share information in any city. Tailored for
use by local residents and visitors alike, My City Way is an interactive city discovery gateway
on your mobile device.
Sonpreet
Bhatia
$1M IA Ventures
FirstMark
Capital
NYC EDC
Primospot Primospot helps navigate the confusing world of urban parking, to quickly find the best place
to park.
The service is unique in that it covers on-street free and metered parking, as well as
commercial garages and even bike racks. In addition to parking locations, Primospot also
knows the rules and regulations, holiday and seasonal changes, and is able to calculate in
real-time how long a car can remain legally parked.
Michael
Hill
N/A N/A
PublicEarth PublicEarth, launched in November 2009, is a free wiki database of and about locations,
generated and updated by users. On the site, people create and maintain PlaceBook™
personal atlases - which organize and manage their personal locations for ease in sharing,
searching, travel planning and activity discovery.
Michael
Rubin
$3M Polaris
Venture
Partners
SpotScore SpotScore is a Seattle-based startup looking to make your lives easier and revolutionize the
parking industry through the use of Intelligent Parking.
N/A N/A
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Why Gaming is so interesting
35This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Classic
VC FiltersData Quality and Uniqueness Sustainability of Datastream
Team • Ex traditional or social gaming (e.g.,
Electronic Arts, Blizzard, Zynga)
• Heavy focus on UI and real-time
analytics
• Expertise in building great gameplay
• Thoughts on expanding to ―normals‖
regarding easy gameplay
Market • Opportunity with ―micro-gaming‖
concept where session times are
<5min
• Initially drive engagement via virtual
goods and social leaderboard
competition
• Ability to incorporate venues and objects as
context for gaming (e.g., ―Real life Grand
Theft Auto‖)
• Replace virtual upgrades with actual
products
• License for interruptive advertising as long
as in context of the game
Marketing Strategy • Utilize open API‘s of other services to
promote game
• Cost per Installation model and
cross linking
• Sharing with other prominent apps
• Enable team / social dynamics to
assist viral growth
• Location trigger upgrades / virtual goods in
context of gameplay
• Location trigger game installation and
sharing
Technology • Expertise in building viral loops
• Heavy data / analytics component
• Clean / robust graphics delivery
• Build out venue service to allow customized
upgrades / virtual goods within game
context
New Data
Lens
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Booyah (2M users) and SCVNGR are growing
aggressively but plenty of room for more engaged
experiences
36
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Name Description
Founding
CEO
VC
funding Investors
Booyah Booyah, headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., is dedicated to creating new forms of
entertainment to the masses by bringing together elements of the real world and the
digital world. Booyah is defining a growing new market called Real-World Gaming.
Keith Lee $9.5 KPCB
CipherCities Citizens of Cipher Cities love playing games in everyday environments. They use the
web to build mobile adventures that they share with friends and fellow citizens.
Cipher Citizens can be game builders, players or musty lurkers. They can share game
photos, rate games and builders, and revel in the joy of location-based gaming.
Australia based
Deb Polson N/A N/A
Geocade Geocade, a social gaming platform for mobile games, enables game developers to
increase game downloads, enhance game play and create recurring revenue streams
by giving them the ability to create local leaderboards in nearly every city and town
worldwide.
Jim Caralis N/A N/A
Geolania Geolania is a massive mobile social game that uses geolocation and augmented
reality for a context gaming. It mix strategy, virtual world, LBS and social components
to create a unique mobile gaming experience.
N/A N/A N/A
Orbster Orbster is a developer and publisher of location-based games for mobile phones.
The company‘s aim is to develop and sell successful games for the growing market in
location-based content for mobile phones. The core of the online and mobile-
integrated game platform allows every player and provider of game ideas to create
location-based games for mobile phones with navigation functions such as GPS
without programming knowledge.
Georg
Broxtermann
$0.75M Seed
Scvngr SCVNGR is a location based mobile gaming platform that lets anyone, individual or
institution build awesome location-based interactive mobile games that can be played
from any cell phone.
Seth
Priebatsch
$4.8 Google
Ventures
Highland
Capital
DreamIt
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Appendix
37
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
The datacentric approach offers a new approach on
evaluating location based startups for investment
38
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Early stage (Seed, Series A) Late stage (Series B & beyond)
Team • Experience in creating processes around
• User acquisition
• User engagement
• Fast analysis / recommendation
• Fast code release background
• Manage mobile cross platform
fragmentation?
• Smart business development hires
• Engagement via promotions / hard
incentives
• Relationships with key brands
• Product development hires
• Experience creating new services
(paid / ad-based) off robust data
Market
Potential
• Value of datastreams to target verticals
• Timing data
• Venue context
• User activity
• Mix of tactical (coupons) and strategic
(new services) which solve pain points
for users
Marketing
Strategy
(Goto market)
• Clear understanding of initial target
segment
• Lightweight user engagement (check-in)
• ―Not annoying‖ game mechanics
(Growth strategy)
• Relationships with technology partners
regarding user acquisition
• Easier user interaction
Technology • Built on, not within, social media
platforms
• Zynga vs. Feedtrace
• Fast, scalable database manipulation
• Cross-database functionality - use LBS
as link to more robust forms of personal
data
• Phone number to credit card
• Ability to scalably introduce real
promotions over virtual goods
• Free donut over badge
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Advertising overview
39This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Name Description
Founding
CEO
VC
funding Investors
Cirius
Technologies
USA
The company‘s flagship product is called AdLocal, which is a location-
based mobile advertising platform that‘s currently being offered in Japan
and the USA (through Cirius USA). AdLocal makes it possible to reach
consumers with ads that take into account the physical location of users
via GPS, Cell-IDs, map coordinates and other information.
Gen
Miyazawa
Snacksquare Snacksquare is a provider of automated location based advertising via
sms text messages. Based on deep integration with the Foursquare API,
Snacksquare facilitates push marketing via SMS txt messages from local
businesses to real people and potential customers at the time and place
they are near to the venue.
Snacksquare allows merchants to create Automated Location Based
Alerts (―ALBA‖) in a similar fashion to building an email marketing
campaign in Constant Contact or Mail Chimp.
James
Gillmore
$0.03M Seed
Socialbomb Every brand manager wants to build apps that will kickstart conversations
across the world‘s Facebook pages, Twitter streams and iPhones.
Socialbomb helps developers and creatives build those apps. They
provide a single API that communicates with many social networks at
once, so developers can spend their time on the core application instead
of programing for each individual service.
The Socialbomb engine is a RESTful API that lets customers exchange
data dynamically with specific services. They push data to Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and other social networks, and then pull
information back into their customers‘ applications for richer features and
more meaningful analytics. The Socialbomb API can provide detailed
feedback about which content users like, comment on, and share.
Michael Dory $0.24M First Round
Capital, Rose
Tech
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Commerce overview (1 of 2)
40This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Name Description
Founding
CEO
VC
funding Investors
Anttenna Anttenna is a free mobile application that facilitates real-time, location-based, person-
to-person exchanges. By turning traditional classified listings into geo-tagged twitter
sized microlistings, Anttenna lets you quickly connect, chat in realtime (―Anttweet‖),
and exchange physical goods/services with people nearby.
Marcus
Wandell
Seed, Moritz
Looew
Chevia Chevia allows users to share knowledge about interesting local products with their
friends and relevant communities, powered by a user-generated product catalog and
a discovery engine that lets users locate and discover relevant/related products and
real-time information that are of interest, and explore things around them.
Paul Lo $0.1M Seed
Mobile Flow mobile flow enables the delivery of relevant, timely information to a consumer base
that uses mobile platforms to access product information, make purchasing decisions
and carry out transactions.
Customers can create and deliver coupons or other product purchasing incentives,
publish mobile web sites to support product promotions, enable customers to carry
out transactions whilst on the move, use multi-media messaging and mobile video to
deliver product information that is engaging and viral.
Ade
Bamigboye
Outalot Outalot is a portable resource for finding nearby restaurants, bars, shops, and
movies. Outalot‘s service is available on the web, iPhone, and mobile handsets by
visiting outalot.com.
Jesse Boyes
SkyBlox ScoutMob provides location-aware coupons, offering rapidly-expiring deals on local
food, coffee, and shops, all tailored to your location and city.
ScoutMob‘s mobile application allows the coupons to be delivered directly to the
iPhone without having to print out or download. The app enables users to:
* Store and sort local deals by newest, most popular, nearby, and hurry-you-fool-
it‘s-about-to-expire.
* Get extra incentive from these locations when you make a return visit.
* When you find a deal worth pursuing, pull it up on your screen & show your
friendly server.
$0.1M SGIO
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Commerce overview (2 of 2)
41This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Name Description
Founding
CEO
VC
funding Investors
Spreezio Spreezio is a location-based consumer service designed to bring local shoppers, merchants, and sales
reps together through personalized shopping deals.
Spreezio enables shoppers to make a deal on any product or service. Shoppers can buy what they
want, when they need it, where they are at. They are guaranteed to get the best local deals based on
value. Once they accept a deal, Spreezio lets them tell their friends via social networking sites like
Facebook and Twitter.
Todd
Chipman
VouChaCha VouChaCha is a location based, on-demand mobile application that enables users to pull personalised
vouchers and special offers for retailers within a two minute walk of their current location. For retailers
and leisure venue operators Vouchacha reacts instantly to low capacity or overstock. Enabling them to
send personalised offers to potential customers that are within a two minute walk of their venue. From
initial contact VouChaCha will bring customers to the door of retailers faster than any other type of
advertising.
Ben Brown Seedcamp
YOOSE YOOSE is the mobile coupon wallet 2.0. Everything that fills up today‘s consumer‘s wallet will be
available on his mobile phone: loyalty cards, coupons, shopping lists, and much more. This provides a
unique direct access to the consumers for product brands, retailer, transport & travel provider, mobile
network operators and others. YOOSE is the future of relationship marketing.
Christian
Geissendoerf
er
$0.04M Seed
Zollpo Wouldn‘t you want to know if there are any exciting new sales around you? Zollpo.com gives you the
power to find all these sales and more in a click away. Zollpo.com was created in order to give
customers a free access to the ―real world‘s‖ sales. Sales that unless the web, might not have been
visible.
Zollpo.com also connects Small & Medium Business with less marketing tools to their customers. In
Zollpo.com we‘ve developed a search engine to help people find on a static map, all the sales: around
them, around their work place, around their next vacation spot.
Idan Bianco
eMapia eMapia is a location based marketplace that is designed to make shopping an easy experience. We use
Google Maps technology to enable sellers (businesses or individuals) to add their items and link them to
locations they desire, which is normally where the shop or house is located.
Adel
Mohamed
Postabon Postabon is a location aware discount platform that allows users to find and share in store deals,
discounts, sales, and coupons.
Postabon uses game like incentives (followers, karma score, etc) to encourage users to be active
members of the community. Its users vote and comment on deals to collaboratively filter the content and
ensure the best deals rise to the top. They also use advanced machine learning algorithms to
recommend the most relevant deals to users based on their location, past usage history, and current
interests.
Stuart Wall $1.1M Spark
Capital
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Communication overview
42This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Name Description
Founding
CEO
VC
funding Investors
BlockChalk BlockChalk allows users to leave messages at locations in their neighborhood using their mobile
device. Described as ―the voice of your neighborhood,‖ BlockChalk encourages users to leave
notes, or ―chalks,‖ about what‘s going on in a certain location. Users can then reply to other users‘
chalks.
BlockChalk recently (as of Jan 2010) launched both an iPhone app as well as an API for
developers.
Cellflare Location Based web service that allows users to stay visually connected to each other via their
Mobile Devices. Users can view the real time status of their family and friends from any Internet
Browser (Canada based)
GeoGraffiti GeoGraffiti enables the open exchange of location-specific opinions and advice in Voice Mark form
with any phone. Users can virtually ―mark‖ real world places by publishing a Voice Mark message.
A Voice Mark™ is a short voice message captured via phone that shares information (e.g. opinions,
tips, warnings, advice) about a venue, event, promotion, or really anything else one cares to share.
Angel
HelloPulse HelloPulse matches you to other people based on the places that you spend time at, and the
activities that you love. We believe that a shared love for a bar, or a park, dog-walking or
kickboxing, is a great indicator of how two people will connect. It also makes it easy to choose a
location for a date and it makes it fit more naturally into your everyday life.
Jane
Thompson
Miselu Inc. Miselu is a voice sharing and archiving application that allows you to capture those special
moments, create comments, leave thoughts, comment on photos and more. Share your voice on
Miselu or through your social networks, blogs and email. Listen to others, follow their updates or
listen to those special moments from the past. A new paradigm in communicating via voice, Miselu
brings you a new dimension to networking.
ShortGPS Shortgps is providing an easy tool to communicate a location. With shortgps.com you can create a
location on a map and after setup the zoom scale or hybrid mode, you can add an external link.
After this, you will get a short URL to use it in Tweets or any other kind of messages where you will
tell ―where‖.
Andreas
Ebert
Hot potato Hot Potato connects friends and fans around live events.
We‘re building tools for real-time social collaboration amongst groups who share an interest in any
event or experience as it‘s happening.
Whether checking in, recording your perspective, or just enjoying others contributions, it‘s more fun
to participate in events with Hot Potato.
Justin
Shaffer
$1.42M First Round
Capital
RRE Ventures
Scott Banister
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Content overview (1 of 2)
43This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Name Description Founding
CEO
VC
funding
Investors
Inphodrive Interactive mobile platform for behind the wheel; stay online while driving Mark Heifets
NAVX NAVX sources, aggregates and distributes geolocalized content that can be used in GPS
and, more generally, in any location-aware device.
The portfolio of content includes gas prices, speedcam locations, parking spaces, wifi
hotspots, restaurants, bars, etc.
To companies, NAVX provides content that enhances their offering and allows them to
generate additional revenues through subscriptions. The content is particularly useful in
―connected devices‖ able to send and receive dynamic and relevant information through
wireless connections. NAVX has established relations with TomTom, Garmin, Mio,
Magellan, TeleAtlas, Orange and other significant players of the Navigation Industry.
Jean
Cherbonnier
Pegshot Pegshot is a mobile video/photo service used to efficiently share location-based media with
friends and family.
Pegshot is based in Boulder, CO and New York City and is a spinoff of a company widely
known in the local video space called WellcomeMat.com. Founders are Phil Thomas
DiGiulio, David Overcash and Christian Sterner.
Phil Thomas
DiGiulio
Tagcrumbs Tagcrumbs is building the infrastructure for user-generated and editorial location-based
content on mobile devices and the web.
Tagcrumbs helps people to easily remember places and share their favorites with their
friends and the world, using mobile applications and the web. Exciting locations to dive,
climb, surf or fish, stunning viewpoints or sublime architecture and great hangouts like
restaurants, bars and cafés can all be found here.
Sascha
Konietzke
Taggstr Taggstr enables you to make your world more ―taggable‖ and leave your own marks on
places around the world.
By allowing you to leave ―taggs‖ wherever you go, Taggstr enables you to leave your own
little marks. Not only is Taggstr a tagging platform, but it allows you to easily find interesting
places around you.
Alamgir
Mand
$0.05M SVASE/Cambridg
e West Ventures
Foodspotting Foodspotting is a visual local guide that lets you find dishes instead of just restaurants. It‘s
powered by Foodspotters, who can share their food photos and expertise while building a
visual collection of foods and where to find them.
Alexa
Andrzejewski
Dan Martell (seed)
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Content overview (2 of 2)
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Name Description Founding
CEO
VC
funding
Investors
StickyBits Stickybits brings the physical and digital worlds together with barcode stickers
which trigger audio, video, photo, and text messages when scanned. The product is
a mobile app for the iPhone and Android phones which lets users scan barcodes,
attach messages, and keep track of the stickybits left by their friends.
Billy
Chasen
$0.3M Polaris Venture
Partners; Mitch
Kapor
Mixed
Media Labs
Photo checkin Dalton
Caldwell
$0.37M TBD
Pelago Pelago‘s most recent product, Whrrl v2.0, enables storytelling in our daily lives.
Launched in March, 2009, it is a mobile and Web application that enables people to
capture and share the moments of their lives, as they happen, in story form.
Through location, photos and text updates, users can easily turn everyday life
experiences into lasting stories that can be remembered, organized and shared.
The user controls exactly who can see his or her story, ranging from total privacy to
publicly visible, including optional broadcast via status updates on Facebook and
Twitter.
Jeff Holden $22.4M
T-Venture
Bezos
Expeditions
DAG Ventures
Reliance
Technology
Ventures
Kleiner Perkins
Caufield & Byers
Trilogy Equity
Partnership
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Platform overview (1 of 2)
45This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Name Description Founding
CEO
VC
funding
Investors
Abaq.us Abaq.us delivers Abaq.us GeoWeb Services, a comprehensive, hosted
platform for both location-based social and business applications. Its
extensible, software as a service (SaaS) architecture provides users with the
ability to store, visualize, analyze, and utilize data from a variety of GPS-
enabled mobile devices.
Shailendra
Jain
Centrl Centrl also has partnerships with Navteq (part of Nokia), Citysearch and
Valassis to bring location-based coupons to its users.
Through layers, Centrl provides its users access any data source from the
web, such as Cityserach, Yelp, Wikipedia, Oodle, Qype, etc.
Murat
Aktihanoglu
$0.5M TwoBuds
Holdings
Latitude
Sedona
Latitude Sedona is a producer and distributor of always fresh, interactive, geo-
localized and contextual tourism contents and services. Our services are
available via mobile applications for the general public and through highly
customized web services on a B2B basis
Juliette
Leygues
LocationGuru LBS platform with api / developer access for mobile operator partners Shaheer
Ahmed
Locomatix Locomatix has developed an advanced solution for enabling next generation
location-based and contextual services that can be deployed in a variety of
applications. Utilizing our patent-pending, next-generation Location-Aware
Services (LAS) streaming technology, Locomatix enables innovative services
across many industries and market sectors.
Jignesh Patel
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Platform overview (2 of 2)
46This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Name Description Founding
CEO
VC
funding
Investors
Miraveo Miraveo‘s spontaneous area network (SPAN) technology provides local presence
information, enables wifi-enabled devices to connect and network easily, facilitating dynamic
and spontaneous mobile communities.
When integrated with mobile applications, our small footprint, low power client extends the
social networking ―lifestyle‖. It offers a high bandwidth, low latency platform for mobile multi-
player games and unlocks the potential of local news, advertising, classifieds and other
proximity based services.
Mario
Nemirovsky
MobGeo Ltd The MobGeo platform is an enterprise level, cloud based software solution that allows you to
operate a complete, interactive mobile channel covering everything from vanilla SMS to
sophisticated mobile applications, wrapped in a single campaign and reporting engine.
Simon Davis
Monadik Monadik is a self-funded, privately held company that specializes in location-based service
and platform development.
Monadik‘s first product is ―dokiru?‖, a location-aware service that helps users discover the
world around them. It encourages users to go places and connect with other people. Users
can send messages, share their photos, visit (or ―check-in‖ to) places and see who else is
visiting, and participate in discussions at places.
ShowNearby ShowNearby is positioned as the worldwide company to define prevalent location-based
services and information.
ShowNearby‘s vision is to provide location-based technologies that enhance the way we live
and breed future generations of people who are truly aware of their surroundings.
Douglas Gan $0.17M Angel, Grant
WaveMarket With platforms and applications designed to meet the needs of both consumers and
enterprise customers, WaveMarket Inc. is a pioneer in location-based solutions.
Tasso
Roumeliotis
$17.4M Saturn Venture
partners
Draper Fisher
Jurvetson
BlueRun
Ventures
Yeerp Working across many sectors of industry, from SMEs, to multi-national enterprises, to public
sector organizations, we provide to our customers a comprehensive set of tools and the
international expertise they need to advance their use of technology, switch on new
revenues, optimize business processes and open up new marketing channels.
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Social Network overview (1 of 3)
47This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Name Description
Founding
CEO
VC
funding Investors
A Space
Apart
A Space Apart is a location-based social media platform for wherever people gather, be it cafe
or convention, office or airplane.
A Space Apart helps people interact with others and their environment by providing simple,
familiar social tools hosted on a customized Web portal. The platform is supported by
advertising and subscription fees.
Jason /
Gretchen
Goodrich
0.025 Seed
Buzzd buzzd (www.buzzd.com) is the real-time social city guide for your mobile device.
- Delivers up-to-the-minute reviews and ratings from friends, buzzd members, and other real-
time content from twitter, gowalla, foursquare, loopt, brightkite, etc.
Aggregates static content feeds from Zagat, Flavorpill, Citysearch, Metromix, Upcoming, and
many more
- Real-time activity drives users to view and act upon local inventory
Nihal Mehta 3.2 Greycroft, Monitor,
Blackberry,
Qualcomm
Dailyplaces
GmbH
We provide at dailyplaces a fully location based microblogging service. With dailyplaces you
can setup your individual blogging website to add and to share any kind of Point of Interest
(POI). We provide an iPhone APP to create POIs too.
Andreas
Ebert
0.025 seed
Flaggpole Flaggpole is a place-based social network that connects people through places that are
important to them.
The important places Flaggpole organizes around could be a postal code, neighborhood, park,
church, school, club or business. After identifying a place, users can form virtual communities
related to the place‘s function and use both micro-messaging and Twitter integration to
organize meaningful interactions.
Nate
Heinrich;
Aaron
Donsbach
Foursquare Users share their location with friends by ―checking in‖ via a smartphone app or by text
message. Points are awarded for checking in at various venues. Users can connect their
Foursquare accounts to their Twitter and Facebook accounts, which can update when a check
in is registered. By checking in a certain number of times, or in different locations, users can
collect virtual badges.
Dennis
Crowley
1.35 Union Square
Ventures
O'Reilly AlphaTech
Ventures
Jack Dorsey
Kevin Rose
Ron Conway
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Social Network overview (2 of 3)
48This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Name Description
Founding
CEO
VC
funding Investors
Friendticker friendticker is a location-based mobile platform using gaming strategies and virtual check-ins
to bring people and venues together.
friendticker is used with smartphones to check in, share activities and recommend venues in
a city users like. People are rewarded for their achievements in form of points and virtual
items. Additionally, collected items can be exchanged for real-life goods, partly sponsored by
brands.
Uwe
Sandner
Gowalla Gowalla, also known as Alamofire, creates games and game-like experiences for the social
web.
Gowalla is a location-based social networking game launched as a public beta in March 2009.
Gowalla uses a large catalog of virtual goods to encourage its users to go places and meet
people.
Josh
Williams
10.4 Greylock Partners
Shasta Ventures
Maples Investments
Kevin Rose
Chris Sacca
Jason Calacanis
Shervin Pishevar
Ron Conway;
Founders Fund;
Alsop Louie Partners
Locassa Locassa is a new community and social discovery tool which helps you explore the things
around you, share your local knowledge with others and benefit from local knowledge and
experience that others have to offer you.
Simon Lee
Maptales Maptales is a location based social broadcasting platform with emphasis on real life
experiences in sport, travel & sight seeing.
Mobile apps from Maptales help you to capture, edit and share your life whenever you are out
and about using geo tagged pictures, GPS tracks, posts or suggested waypoints.
Maptales is a great way to explore user generated experiences around you or from all over
the world using either a 2D map or 3D augmented reality player on your smartphone or
simply by browsing through experiences on the website.
Chris J.
Dankl
Meet Now
Live
Meet Now Live is a location based, mobile social network focused on nightlife venues and
events in New York City. Users ―broadcast‖ their location from bars, clubs and lounges via
their mobile phone to provide real-time information to the network.
Michael
Davis
This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Social Network overview (3 of 3)
49This information is confidential and was prepared by Yujin Chung, Simon Lu, and Gautam Tambay. It is not to be referenced, published, presented, or forwarded without their prior written consent.
Name Description
Founding
CEO
VC
funding Investors
Mobcast Mobcast is a location-based mobile Facebook application designed to help flash mobs
(or any group of friends) coordinate while on the move.
Users can view the locations of their Facebook friends on a map and watch as they
walk around in near-realtime. By posting Mobcasts, users can update their Facebook
status and push notify their friends of where they are going, what they are doing, and
why their friends should join them. Replies are also pushed, providing an easy way to
self-organize a flash mob in minutes.
Nikolai
Sander
Zedmo Zedmo lets you find events and social topics. You can discover these Zedmo
―channels‖ according to their location, popularity, or topic.
Noah
Bloom
Seed, Bootup
labs
sleeq A Location Based Service from Germany. Founded in 2006, the first version focused on
a Check-In Service, calendar for planning events with your friends etc..
Extended in 2009 with real time information (status messages, photos and other
activities), like a live ticker about what is going on at your favorite locations and among
your friends.
loopt Loopt is a location-based social mapping service that allows individuals to use their
location to discover the world around them – enabling them to find and enjoy the
friends, places, and events that mean the most right here and now using their mobile
phones. Users can also check in to locations, share location updates, tips, photos and
comments with friends and share across online social networks, communities and
blogs.
Sam
Altman
17.1 New Enterprise
Associates
Sequoia Capital
Brightkite Brightkite is a location based social network based in Denver, CO. In real-time it lets
people see where their friends are, share their experiences and make new friends
based on the places that they frequent. Businesses and venues can capture and
syndicate the activity around them via their website, and RSS. Brightkite can be used
via the web, text messaging, e-mail, WAP, and the iPhone, giving users an immersive
experience.
Jonathan
Linner
1.42 Techstars,
Draper Richards
Jurvetson