Locomizer Raises $300K for International Expansion

Class of 2013 alumni Locomizer have received $300K seed round investment from international funds Impulse VC and Phystech Ventures. The follow on investments in Locomizer may go up to $1.5M by the end of 2016, and the funds will be used for international expansion of Locomizer, who currently operate in London, Japan and the United States.

The investment firms have expertise in scaling technological-focussed businesses and large networks in the US, Asia an Central Europe.

“Locomizer is a good example of how the real world is being digitized and converted into big data, to create value-added products and services for their customers and end-users. This is just one of a few projects that bring a real ‘tech’ meaning to adtech,” says Impulse VC managing partner Kirill Belov.

Major case studies in London have helped provide the market traction Locomizer needed to raise these funds. First, a partnership with Havas Media for their client Jameson, where Locomizer created a 'Lads Map' in the UK exceeded expectations and all KPIs within months.

Alongside Posterscope and Target Media, Locomizer also won the Clear Channel Outdoor Planning Award for their work on the OOH campaigns for Fallout 4. The virtual hotspots were used to create engaging out of home creative, providing the right information to the right consumers at the right time.

Alexei Poliakov, Co-Founder of Locomizer explains the technology in more detail, “Our technology is a smart geofence. Instead of relying on target customers’ close proximity to key locations, we discover and recommend non-obvious places with high affinity to brands, which has never been more possible than with Locomizer’s insights. Our targeting is not location-based, but better – it’s based on where you’ve been in the past. There is an important difference here; while we recognize the significance of location as an indicator of your interests, once we have a good understanding of your profile, relevant offers can be sent to you, regardless of your current location.”

Locomizer continues to improve the functionality of its Affinity(BI) technology by designing new patent applications and adding filtering, matching, and predictive algorithms. The aim is to enrich the generated profiles with more granular information, allowing segmentation across multiple customer attributes in a campaign planning and real-time mode.

Phystech Ventures managing partner Olga Maslikhova adds, “At the moment, Locomizer is focused on winning in adtech space, but the company is not limited to just adtech, as it has all of the capabilities to push its ‘data-as-a-service’ analytics platform across multiple verticals. The startup has already gained a foothold in EU, Japan and US markets. We recognize a huge opportunity for Locomizer to enter and be successful in the Southeast Asia markets as well. Phystech Ventures has a strategic presence there and will support Locomizer’s business development.”

Locomizer’s unique technology of audience discovery and segmentation, called Affinity(BI), is based on biological research into cell behavioral models by Dr. Alexei Poliakov, a cofounder of Locomizer. They continue to improve the functionality of its Affinity(BI) technology by designing new patent applications and adding filtering, matching, and predictive algorithms. The aim is to enrich the generated profiles with more granular information, allowing segmentation across multiple customer attributes in a campaign planning and real-time mode.

Applications are now open for the Class of 2016 Programme

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Are you a marketing or advertising tech (MadTech) startup? Then listen up. Now entering the second half of our third year, Collider is at it again. Applications are now open for the Class of 2016 programme, and we’re putting up to £150k of equity investment up for grabs to the hottest MadTech startups out there. But it’s not just the money that’s worth getting excited about, we also deliver an awesome programme to help you make that money go further. What makes the programme a winner for MadTech startups? Brands & Agencies. Some of the biggest and the best. Collider partners with the likes of Unilever, Havas Media, Ogilvy & Mather Group UK, The National Lottery, BBC Worldwide and many more. All of these brands and agencies commit their time to meeting and mentoring Collider’s startups.

We all know how important customer development is, right? Well, our startups get invaluable, early and in-depth access to leading brands and agencies across a range of industries. Startups spend time with Brand Managers, SVPs of Digital and everyone in between to really get to the bottom of customer problems. By better understanding their customers, Collider startups refine their proposition and tech with the confidence that they’re building something brands actually want.

It’s not just the brands that make this the best place for MadTech startups, it’s the investors too. Collider investors are the smartest money out there – be it industry stalwarts who have risen to the top of global brands like Pepsico and Unilever or entrepreneurs who have set up and sold agencies; these investors offer golden advice and a contact book to die for.

So, what’s the deal I hear you say?

• Collider is offering up to 10 startups £50k cash. We charge £10k for the Collision phase programme – four months of brand interactions, intensive one-on-one coaching, workshops and support from the likes of Taylor Wessing and our other programme partners.

• After four months Collider will then invest up to a further £100k cash in up to five of the startups, as decided by our investors. No need to spend six months fundraising; the investment is decided on immediately and paid into accounts within one week. Collider will charge £10k for a further 8 months’ support getting the founders ready for their Series A, including monthly board meetings and investor breakfasts, fundraising work etc.

What is Collider looking for?

• Startups which provide tools to help brands identify, understand, engage with or sell to consumers

• Collider is particularly excited about the possibilities of tools for VR/AR, AI, future of content, Mobile Saas, video, online to offline, dynamic and native advertising, automated marketing, marketing analytics, e-commerce and m-commerce and offline digital retail. And much, much more.

• Startups with a minimum of two founders

• Startups which are at or near MVP stage

• Startups who are incorporated in the UK and can open a UK bank account

• Startups who are SEIS eligible

Join us for Beers with Collider for the chance to ask us any of your questions!

RSVP for July 13                                                                                     RSVP for August 6

Alumnus Locomizer partners with TAPTAP Networks

Collider alumnus Locomizer, a provider of location analytics technologies, announced a partnership to enrich TAPTAP’s Sonata Ad platform today. TAPTAP Networks is the largest independent mobile advertising company in Spain and Latin America.

Locomizer’s proprietary algorithm uses geo-data in a combination with points of interest (POI) data as its input. These are then converted into individual geo-behavioural user interest profiles – a new way to interpret, store and use positional information. User interest profiles are created with Locomizer’s behavioural model, which was developed through studying cell movements and interactions in live systems. This model analyses user’s behaviour to understand real-life interests and preferences, making it ideal for matching with relevant services and offers.

“Our ability to translate geo-data into a very sophisticated set of user-interest-profiles and distinctive segments has a natural fit with the mobile advertising world” said Alexei Poliakov, Locomizer co-founder and chief scientist. “We are delighted about the partnership with TAPTAP and thrilled to see that the trial campaign was so successful. It translates now into a commercial proposition to advertisers and marketers”.

SONATA is the first global mobile advertising platform aimed at brands and local advertisers seeking local contextual awareness, increased physical store footfall and in-store analytics. Built mobile-first by former retailers and AdTech experts, Sonata’s technology leverages geo-enabled devices such as smartphones and tablets, socio-contextual signals, and in-store audience data, enabling attribution between local contextual advertising and real-time, in-store foot traffic data.

“Physical presence provided by opt-in users through their mobile devices convey the same information that legacy cookies on the internet once did," said Alvaro del Castillo, CEO and founder of TAPTAP Networks. "As mobile usage takes over the internet cookies become irrelevant and presence signals allow for the creation of geo-behavior profiles that both global brands and local advertisers value in order to drive people through the purchase funnel. Locomizer’s bio-enabled proposition truly enhances our ability for out of the box mobile audience profiling."

Congratulations to Alexei, Alex and Roman! We're looking forward to following your expansive journey into new markets and becoming industry leaders.

Crowdfunding Complete for the Class of 2015!

It’s been quite a week here at Collider – never a dull moment! As the excitement from Ad:Tech London cooled down, it was time for the Collider team to pull together and begin filing through the applications for the Class of 2015. Applications for the programme are open until November 10^th, make sure you get your applications in before the deadline (and even share with your friends now)!

In other news, our Seedrs campaign has come to a successful close! As of Wednesday evening, only 13 days after launch, the marketing and advertising industry pulled together to collectively raise over £330,000! Investments ranged from £100 to £55,000 per person and over 60 individuals participated.

Investors of note include media guru Mat Morrison and CEO of Havas Media, Paul Frampton. Senior advertising executives from Ogilvy and WeAreSocial also invested in the Class of 2015. Some investors will further be actively involved in the mentoring process with the startups during the programme. They will also draw on industry connections and expertise to further supercharge the startups.

“The response from the marketing and advertising professionals has been overwhelmingly positive,” Rose Lewis, Co-founder of Collider said. “We’re encouraging them to invest in the future of their industry through startups, and they jumped at the chance.”

Each of the 10 startups will receive £50K in exchange for 11% equity. A hand-picked 5 of the 10 will receive £100K follow-up funding for a further 11%. Half of the funds from the Seedrs campaign will go towards the first round of funding and the other half will go towards the second round, with all of the investors’ money being distributed evenly between all the startups.

In short, high praise goes to the marketing and advertising industry! They took the challenge head on and took an active role in shaping the future of their industry through emerging tech - their efforts paid off! The Class of 2015 has a group of mentors and investors behind it this year who have an envious track record, with even more brands signed up to help transform these products by acting as first market validators (more on this later). Things are moving quickly – this year will be bigger and better and we’re waiting impatiently to getting this race going…

Invest in the Class of 2016 co-hort

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Look out West to our cousins over the pond. AppNexus, Radian6, Marketo. Huge marketing and advertising tech success stories. They’re building the tech that is going to be powering the future of the brand and agency world. Our peers in the US are getting early access to the tech that is shaping our industry. We should be building it here.

Look East to the City. Where the financial industry lives. Another sector where Britain leads the world. And the people in that industry are doing something important. They’re backing their future. They’re buying into it. Pouring money and knowledge into the FinTech scene, opening themselves up to the startups that will keep the world knocking on their door. It’s time we did the same.

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We’re calling out to you, to the whole industry, to provide some of that fuel. Just as the City has platform upon platform to invest in startups, we're creating one for MadTech. For you to put your hard-earned into up to 10 game-changing startups. And in return, you'll get a stake in them. Up to 10 startups that will set us apart from New York, Paris and Singapore. And most importantly, a stake in your future that could turn into a great return.

So, What's the Deal Then?

By investing in the Seedrs campaign, you'll be investing directly into up to 10 of MadTech's finest leading into 2016 - the Class of 2016 cohort.

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We’ve assembled a crew of seasoned investors and industry stalwarts to come on board. But to fulfil the mission, we'll need more. We'll need you. The pioneers, the rule breakers, the early adopters. The people in the industry that just ‘get it’. Between us, we have the expertise, skills, connections and smarts to build the global MadTech businesses of tomorrow. The more you invest in the startups, the more intangible returns you get. Just as Mr. Banner says, "You become a part of the community". So we've spliced up a few investment suggestions below, with the perks that come along.

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[4/15 slots remaining] BRONZE £5K – Welcome to the Collider Community.You’ll get an invitation to the Collider Launch Party, Demo Day and monthly MadTech Drinks, and monthly mail updates.

[11/13 slots remaining] SILVER £15K – Take a front seat on the innovation train. You’ll get an observatory seat at Selection Day, and exclusive networking events with the other Collider investors in addition to everything in bronze.

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[6/8 slots remaining] GOLD £25K – Roll up your sleeves and get involved. You’ll get the opportunity to lead a Collider Academy Workshop, a half-vote at Selection Day, invitation to monthly Investor Portfolio Review sessions in addition to everything in silver.

[3/10 slots remaining] PLATINUM £50K+ The big one – you’re in as a full investor. You’ll get special invites to Founders Dinner, coordinated one-on-one mentoring with the startups, exclusive Investor events, free pass to the Collider Startup Academy sessions in addition to everything in gold.

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We’re creating a movement here, with you leading the charge. Bring your friends, your colleagues, your peers and let's keep the UK #1 in MadTech.

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