Fiksu, Mobile App Marketing Platform, Secures $10M in Series B Funding Led by Qualcomm and Charles River Ventures

BOSTON, July 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Fiksu, Inc. (www.fiksu.com), the industry's first cost-effective mobile app user acquisition platform spanning the global mobile ecosystem, today announced it has secured $10 million in Series B financing, led by new investor Qualcomm Incorporated, acting through its venture investment arm, Qualcomm Ventures and existing investor Charles River Ventures. This funding brings Fiksu's total raised to $17.8M and comes on the heels of a surge in global customer demand. The new funds will be used to accelerate Fiksu's already significant growth, with a specific focus on propelling European and Asia-Pac expansion, fueling further development of its optimization platform, and driving strategic partnerships with agencies and brands.

"Fiksu is hyper-focused on using our outstanding and innovative technology to deliver the best app marketing solution for advertisers," said Micah Adler, Founder and CEO of Fiksu. "Our accomplishments to date demonstrate our technological leadership. It is a true honor to be backed by investors who are deeply respected within the mobile ecosystem and bring such a distinguished track record of innovation excellence."

Fiksu's flagship product, Fiksu® for Mobile Apps is used by leading brands to overcome the complex and expensive challenge of promoting iOS and Android mobile apps. Fiksu increases ROI by cost-effectively delivering large volumes of loyal users – those who return repeatedly to an app, engage and are most likely to monetize. Fiksu's mobile media optimization platform extends a global footprint and targets across all significant channels, including real-time bidding exchanges, traditional mobile ad networks, the mobile web, social networks, video, email and SMS. Architected for predictability and scalability, Fiksu's real-time bidding algorithms and optimization engine deliver the industry's highest performing and largest reach campaigns.

"There is no question that mobile marketing will be of increasing value to the top-name brands who want to capture their target audience on-the-go," said Johnny Won, Mobile and Gaming Platform Manager, Hill Holiday. "Our partnership with Fiksu ensures the right messages are served to the right audiences on their smartphones or tablets – driving deeper brand loyalty, customer engagement and revenue generating transactions – exactly what our clients demand."

 "Fiksu occupies a significant leadership position in the industry through an unparalleled commitment to developing a marketing platform with the smartest optimization algorithms and industry-leading attribution techniques," said Jon Auerbach, General Partner, Charles River Ventures. "We are excited about the rapid progress Micah and team have made in catapulting Fiksu from unknown in 2011 to the epicenter of mobile marketing today. We will undoubtedly see the company scale to new heights again this coming year."

Fiksu Optimization Leadership

The Fiksu for Mobile Apps platform is the industry's only marketing platform that uses predictive algorithms to optimize mobile advertising campaigns in real time through the relational evaluation of:

1. Inventory - 225 billion potential iOS and Android smartphone ad impressions per month across more than 40 mobile ad networks and real-time bidding exchanges.
2. Post Download Activity - Fiksu's knowledgebase of more than 30 billion post download in-app activities - launches, purchases, registrations, upgrades - along with real time attribution of ongoing user engagement activity.
3. Key Campaign Variables - dozens of key campaign variables such as traffic source, publishers, device, creative, organic uplift, country.

Fiksu's algorithms run billions of advertising permutations based on the three groupings above to identify the best advertising decisions based on historical performance, the client's budget and volume goals, and the client's monetization strategy. Fiksu then optimizes campaigns in real time to deliver economic efficiencies, maximum download volume and loyal, long-term users. Today, Fiksu optimization drives hundreds of millions of in-app conversions daily and scales easily as the client's business grows.

Fiksu Milestones:

• New Products: Fiksu recently introduced Version 2.0 of Fiksu® for Mobile Apps' SDK, providing the most comprehensive range of marketing attribution technologies, including and beyond the Unique Device Identifier (UDID). Fiksu also launched FreeMyApps™, a discovery platform for apps where users are rewarded for engaging with new apps. Leading game and social publishers have successfully used the platform to drive significant download volumes and profitable revenue growth.
• Big Data: Fiksu currently records more than 1 billion user acquisition app events per day. This includes app actions – such as launches, registrations and in-app purchases, as well as real time bidding requests. This data is used to drive real time optimization of ad campaigns, to help app developers acquire large volumes of loyal users at very efficient costs.  
• Company Growth and International Expansion: Fiksu has swiftly grown its staff to more than 100 people with expectations to double in the coming year. The company recently more than doubled its office space in Boston, added an office in Northampton, MA, and is deepening its presence in the U.K. and Singapore.
• Industry Awards: Numerous recent successes, including Ad:Tech Startup Spotlight: Mobile Marketing Innovation Winner, OnMedia 2012 Top 100 Winner, MITX Innovation Award Finalist, Mobile Excellence Awards Finalist, BBJ Best Places to Work 2012 and E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist 2012.
• Thought Leadership: Fiksu's experts are sought-after speakers and panelists at shows and conferences and the company has provided unique insights into important industry trends, including:
  • Fiksu Indexes – App Store Competitive Index and Cost Per Loyal User Index
  • Best Practices for Growing Your Mobile App Business
  • Top Mobile App Marketing Mistakes and How To Avoid Them
  • How to Acquire Loyal App Users - Strategies to Grow In-App Purchase, Ad Revenue and Registrations
  • Android App Marketing and Google Play

About Fiksu
Fiksu, Inc. helps leading brands optimize their iOS and Android mobile app marketing campaigns and secure large volumes of loyal users. The company's flagship platform, Fiksu® for Mobile Apps spans the entire mobile ecosystem providing the most cost-effective, predictable and intelligent mobile advertising solution, slashing user acquisition costs and ensuring sustained user engagement. Additionally, Fiksu offers FreeMyApps™, an app discovery platform where users are rewarded. Based in Boston, MA, Fiksu is venture-backed by Qualcomm Ventures and Charles River Ventures. More at www.fiksu.com, @Fiksu and on the Fiksu blog.

About Charles River Ventures
Founded in 1970, Charles River Ventures is bi-coastal venture firm. With a 42-year history, it is one of the nation's oldest and most successful early-stage venture capital firms. CRV is dedicated to helping exceptional entrepreneurs turn their ideas into the next category leaders in high growth technology and media sectors. Over the past 20 years, CRV funds have been ranked among the industry's top performers. CRV has offices in Cambridge, MA and Menlo Park, CA. For more information visit www.crv.com.

SOURCE Fiksu, Inc.