SEATTLE, WA — (Marketwire) — 02/14/12 — nFluence Media, a Seattle and London based technology startup, today announced the closing of its first external funding round as well as the launch of a range of consumer and white-labeled applications that help consumers create anonymous profiles of themselves to be able to control their digital presence and attract only the deals, ads, messages and media content that they are interested in at that moment.
nFluence-s technology is built on the philosophy that consumers should be able to retake control of their digital presence. To accomplish this, nFluence steers clear of the collection of any personal data in favor of an anonymous self-profiling system that protects the consumer from intrusive or unwanted marketing.
“As the four tech giants, Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon fight over who owns the customer, nFluence is built around a simple idea — the customer owns the customer!” says Brian Roundtree, CTO and founder of nFluence. “Our business partners are blown away when we ask them not to tell us the names, zip codes, phone numbers and email addresses of their clients. We help them build wider, deeper relationships without any personal data. It-s good for them because it-s what consumers want.”
The first showcase of nFluence-s technology will be the iPhone app -dealBoard,- launching later this February. Using nFluence-s proprietary and fun “brand sorter,” dealBoard users will receive a custom, aggregated selection of daily deals that appeal to their tastes and interests. dealBoard is a free app that aggregates from nearly all daily deal sources to provide a personalized selection to its users, without sending any emails or collecting any personal data.
“People don-t like most email and mobile marketing and rightfully so, they are inundated with unwanted, mistargeted or stalker-like ads, offers and messages,” said Henry Lawson, CEO, nFluence Media. “With our technology, we-re able to return control of a consumer-s profile to the person it belongs to, the consumer, not some technology black box. The critical difference in our offering is that we allow the consumer to remain anonymous as they get what they want. The idea that digital marketing requires data exhaust sniffing is wrong. Consumers want control.”
Chairman Tom Huseby added: “We have been working in stealth mode for two years on the tide of change around consumer privacy. As we began to show what we are doing to our business partners it became obvious now was the time to break cover and enable consumers to own their own data rather than allow a black box to exploit their clickstream. The team Brian and Henry have assembled have made a fantastic start in changing the way consumers will receive marketing.”
The Series A investment in nFluence Media was led by the Alliance of Angels with investments from Voyager Capital and two other VCs as well as the AoA Seed Fund. nFluence Media-s first application, dealBoard, will launch on the iTunes App Store later this month.
Dan Rosen, Chairman of the Alliance of Angels (AoA), added: “The AoA is delighted that nFluence is the latest company in our portfolio. They are a phenomenal team. After a great experience with Brian and Tom at SNAPin, it was clear that they would create a great next venture. Adding Henry-s unique media and advertising systems background, nFluence has the opportunity to create a new market in the digital marketing space. The nFluence team and plan generated huge excitement at the AoA which responded with a large number of Angels investing quickly.”
For more information visit:
Headquartered in both Seattle, Washington and London, England, nFluence Media is a technology startup that allows consumers to create anonymous self-profiles that allow for more relevant targeting of deals, offers, ads and messages. Founded by Henry Lawson, CEO and Brian Roundtree, CTO in 2010, nFluence Media puts power back into consumers- hands when it comes to controlling their digital presence. nFluence Media is venture-backed and will soon launch their first mobile app, dealBoard. Henry Lawson previously spent 20 years running marketing technology companies including Interep and Donovan Data Systems. Brian Roundtree is a successful startup entrepreneur, having previously founded SNAPin Software, which was sold to Nuance Communications for $224m in 2008.
Sam Dalsimer
TriplePoint for nFluence Media
212-730-9744
You must be logged in to post a comment Login