PlaceIQ Announces 4.2 Million in Funding

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PlaceIQ, the hyperlocal data company that builds audience profiles for 100-meter tiles across major metropolitan centers, has raised $4.2 million dollars in series A funding, led by U.S. Venture Partners and Valhalla Partners in addition to existing investors, kbs+p Ventures, IA Ventures, as well as Jerry Neumann. As part of the funding announcement, the Boulder-based company will also be relocating to New York, in order to be closer to “customers, partners, and the general ecosystem,” the company said in a press release.

Launched in 2010, PlaceIQ has grown quickly in the mobile ad exchange space through partnerships with AdMeld and others, who leverage the company’s hyperlocal profiles to target ads in a privacy friendly environment. With an influx of cash and, for the time being, a somewhat limited growth potential in the still location-reticent advertising operations community, the company plans to expand into other markets.

“As PlaceIQ executes on its vision to build out an audience engine, a number of other markets are beginning to use PlaceIQ data effectively — such as online advertising, out of home, and even TV advertising,” the company said in a statement.

As a data play, the company’s growth will depend on its ability to develop use-cases for its information in other markets. Digital Out of Home, or DOOH, appears to be a fairly straightforward fit, but online and TV advertising, in which a consumer’s location is typically static, is less clear. Hyperlocation is far more valuable in a mobile context, where a consumer is interacting with his or her environment in real-time.

The company, which is already cash flow positive, has experienced early success with big brands. Unlike companies like Placecast that are building tools to motivate consumers to come into a particular location and buy now, PlaceIQ has built a product that can tap into the much more lush brand spend of national advertisers.

The relocation of PlaceIQ to New York also underscores the city’s growing reputation as a hotbed of hyperlocal activity. With the growth of the city’s tech community, New York has becomes a natural center amid the “general ecosystem” of hyperlocal.

Steven Jacobs is an associate editor at Street Fight.

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