The post The Future of Data and Blockchain, As Heard at SXSW 2018 appeared first on Phunware.
]]>At this year’s SXSW Interactive conference, the question of where our data travels and for what purpose took center stage. A two-day programming block called The Blockchain Rises was the centerpiece of the Interactive track, featuring dozens of blockchain-focused sessions and who-knows-how-many parties.
This focus on distributed ledger technology is evidence that as a society, we are reckoning with an unforeseen scale of globalization. We generate an unprecedented amount of data and feel collective fear and distrust of far-reaching global powers. The result is a climate where solutions like blockchain are born and applied in impressively creative ways. Here are some of the most interesting blockchain applications from SXSW Interactive 2018.
Blockchain, Your Data and You
We spent as much time as possible at SXSW 2018 hearing from experts and innovators in the blockchain space. From a discussion on rights management at “What Blockchain Means for Media & Entertainment” to an example of P2P solar energy distribution courtesy of Sandra Ro of Power Ledger, the use cases of distributed ledger technology explored at the Interactive sessions ran the gamut. Here are a few of the most compelling:
- Recordkeeping. In an era of mass displacement, human rights groups are turning toward blockchain for the future of identity records. Years of civil war in Syria have displaced millions of refugees. Exacerbating this crisis, the Syrian government has lost control of many of its fundamental government entities and organizations, including those that maintain records of citizenship. A 2015 UNHCR survey of 2,500 refugee families found that 68% were unable to register with the UN, a process that requires presentation and verification of a birth certificate. With almost 70,000 children born to registered Syrian refugees alone since 2011, this breakdown in records could have long-term implications. Not only would blockchain ledger of records would be indestructible, it would be immediately accessible to any pertinent party in case of emergency.
- Combating fraud. Hand in-hand with record-keeping is accountability. Almost a decade after the earthquake in Haiti, relief efforts are tainted by reports of dubious spending and pitiful results. In a SXSW mentorship session, Rachel Pipan of Bitfury posited that a blockchain ledger of transaction data and allocations is the obvious solution to financial malfeasance in disaster response. Whether for government aid, local construction projects or corporate audits, the ability to access a complete and time-stamped record of the path of allocated funds could do wonders for donor confidence, not to mention relief recipients. In the same session, Pipan underscored the theme of transparency: we have the power to instill trust in bureaucracy like we’ve never been able to before.
- Land rights management. In the Republic of Georgia, land titles are registered on the blockchain, marking the first time a national government has used the technology for civil validation. At their SXSW session “Blockchain: A Trust Crisis,” the Bitfury Group discussed the ambitious project and its importance. According to Bitfury CEO Valery Vavilov, the “big goal is to move… to smartphones, so people can [access their records] 24/7 and all transactions are secured, transferrable and accountable.” The result is a truly citizen-owned land ownership system: if you’re a citizen with land, you have access to that record along with the Georgian government, any interested buyer, your next of kin, etc. For any disputes, the ledger is the master truth, and by nature, it’s not held by an attackable central authority.
- Online identity. Phunware’s own Randall Crowder also spoke about blockchain technology at SXSW Interactive in a session about creative approaches to startup funding. In his session, Randall explored how Phunware plans to overlay its mobile application platform with cryptonetworking technology and release a PhunCoin token. The goal of PhunCoin is to leverage the data collected by Phunware applications to create an ecosystem where consumers, app developers and brands can consume, share and be compensated for the use of data. View this Austin Business Journal article for more information and subscribe to our newsletter for updates.
- Finance. Mobile payment systems are now mainstream, but users of Venmo, PayPal and others are still chained to their bank accounts. A true P2P solution could take the form of a blockchain; in fact Boston-based startup Circle has already created the first blockchain-powered P2P payment app that functions in iMessage. Eventually, blockchain could form the basis of a new kind of banking authority, governed by each of us and free from the security pitfalls of a traditional bank. Payments over blockchain could also work the other way: app developers could use a blockchain to manage in-app payments and bypass Apple or Google’s regulatory structure for easier and quicker refunds, larger profit margins and emancipation from the walled garden of today’s app store, at least in terms of audience monetization.
- Supply Chain. The opioid epidemic claimed over 37,000 American lives in 2016 alone. Many of those fatalities could have been prevented (or at least better understood) with more comprehensive and accessible drug supply chain information. Tomicah Tillemann, co-founder and chairman at Blockchain Trust Accelerator, spoke in his SXSW session about the potential for transparent and decentralized patient records to reform healthcare from the ground up. Using blockchain to record supply-chain and care delivery information, patients, providers and—if it came to it—regulators could access information about the source of drugs as well as how and by whom they are prescribed. Increasing transparency and accountability in healthcare is just one use case—from source and distribution tracking in the burgeoning cannabis industry to creating a non-invasive firearm registry, supply chains have significant potential to benefit from distributed ledger technology.
Where Do We Go from Here?
The next era of the web is taking shape, and data is its cornerstone. As Dustin Byington noted in Austin Blockchain Collective’s SXSW session, blockchain-powered data democratization can be a perfect balm for a world struggling to keep up with the pace of its own innovation and consumers grappling with just how much of ourselves we expose to algorithms.
Blockchain technology is far more than a buzzword within the cryptocurrency hype machine: it’s a sleeping dragon. As we begin to reassess how we want to interact with our governments, brands and world via the internet, we’ll establish new paradigms. The value of decentralized personal data is the potential to take back control of our data, our identities and ultimately our world.
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]]>The post 4 Ways Airport Apps Solve Retail and Parking Challenges appeared first on Phunware.
]]>But times change, and some recent developments are posing new challenges to airports’ retail and parking revenue. Today’s travelers are less affluent, with many demands on their wallets and time. E-commerce gives them more retail options than ever, and widespread duplication of retail outlets across (and even within) airports makes in-terminal shopping less compelling. And of course, travelers have less time to shop and dine because they’re spending more time in security.
Airport parking faces similar challenges: off-site parking, public transportation and—increasingly—ridesharing compete for travelers’ dollars. According to OAG’s North American Market Report, ridesharing is now the preferred third-party method of transportation to and from the airport—and roughly two-thirds of all travelers (and 70% of business travelers) wish it were available at more airports. The Economist also points out that environmental regulations are pushing airports to encourage public transportation and off-site parking as a way to reduce on-site air pollution.
With these new and intensifying pressures on their retail and parking revenues, airports must look for fresh solutions and competitive strategies. Here are four ways mobile technology can help airports maintain non-aeronautical revenue, even as outside forces threaten it.
1. Leverage Location to Drive Retail Sales in the Terminal
Partnering with retailers and concessionaires, airports can leverage mobile apps and location technology (GPS, beacons, etc.) to send targeted promotional messages to airport app users, right when they’re most likely to act on them. Let’s say Passenger Q is a frequent traveler and airport app user who has visited Airport News n’ Brews three times in the last two months. The next time she heads to the airport, she receives a personalized push notification as soon as her car enters the parking garage. The airport welcomes her back and offers her 10% off a magazine purchase with her coffee at Airport News n’ Brews.
To learn more, download our eBook: Mobile Marketing Automation: Why It Matters and How to Get Started
Or consider Passenger Z. He just downloaded the airport app for the first time and heads off to catch a midday flight. As soon as he exits security, he receives a push notification reminding him to pick up lunch from Bistro to Go and get a free cookie. Where do you think he stops next?
These kinds of timely, relevant messages can be powerful enticements for passengers who appreciate helpful suggestions to make their travel smoother and more comfortable (especially when they can also save money). According to SITA’s Air Transport IT Trends Insights 2017, however, only 18% of airports have implemented location-based food and beverage promotions, and just 19% have implemented location-based duty-free ads and offers via mobile. There’s a clear opportunity here for airports that are forward-thinking enough to take it.
2. Improve Traffic Flow and Increase Shopping Time with Location Tech and Airport App User Data
An airport mobile app can act as a passenger’s personalized digital guide to and through the airport terminals, directly to their gate. And while they use mobile turn-by-turn navigation to speed their route through the concourse, the airport collects valuable (and previously unavailable) data about where bottlenecks occur and how passengers move through the terminal. This data can be leveraged to streamline operations, eliminate bottlenecks, optimize locations of mobile retail carts and much more.
3. Make Your Airport App Your Parking Hub
Smart parking guidance systems like Park Assist® can help airports streamline garage traffic flow while driving revenue through sophisticated pricing strategies. An airport mobile app can (and should) integrate with these systems, enabling app users to find the closest open parking space with a tap and find their way back to their car just as easily. (Check out our Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Customer Snapshot to see how it works.)
DOWNLOAD FT. LAUDERDALE AIRPORT CASE STUDY
4. Create Additional Revenue with In-App Advertising
In-terminal advertising is used to generate valuable non-aeronautical revenue, and in-app ads can do the same. The right app development partner can help you select ad units that won’t disrupt the app user experience and should be able to connect you with advertisers and campaigns that are relevant to your brand and the passengers who typically frequent your airport. According to App Annie, worldwide in-app ad spending shot up 37% from 2016 to 2017. That’s revenue that could be contributing to your bottom line.
Clearly, mobile and location-based technologies give airports many new options to address challenges to their main non-aeronautical revenue sources, retail and parking. The four use cases above are only the beginning. As mobile and location technologies continue to permeate the consumer and business landscape, the opportunities for airport mobile apps will continue to expand. Getting in on the ground floor now with a scalable mobile solution will position your facility to capitalize on those opportunities as they arise.
Learn more about how you can take a strategic approach to mobile in this eBook: Mobile First: Harnessing the App Lifecycle for Transformative Business Success
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]]>The post How to Lock Down Resident Satisfaction in the Internet of Too Many Things appeared first on Phunware.
]]>The proliferation of home automation devices is in part responsible for this app explosion. Consumers can now download apps for monitoring and controlling practically everything in their homes, including security cameras, doorbells, thermostats, pet feeders, lights, robotic vacuums and more. Amazon’s Echo and other Alexa-enabled devices have apps, as do their counterparts made by Google and Apple. That “Home” folder can get pretty crowded.
Importantly, consumers aren’t just stocking up on smart home devices for their own personal use—they want their places of residence to offer built-in smart capabilities as well, even if they have to pay a little more for them. So how can residential property developers and managers meet residents’ expectations for a convenient, connected community—without cluttering their home screens?
Many multi-unit residential communities offer an app for paying rent, making maintenance requests and managing package deliveries. An easy place for them to exceed residents’ expectations without upping their app count is by integrating smart locks into these resident mobile apps.
Business Benefits of a Keyless Door Lock and Secure Mobile Door Access
Resident Satisfaction
Integrating secure keyless door lock and entry into a resident app makes the living experience more convenient—and consumers increasingly make home purchase and rental decisions based on convenience. A staggering 86% of Millennials say they’d be willing to pay about 20% more for a smart apartment that includes automated or remotely controlled devices like smart locks. Meanwhile, 61% of Generation Y say they’re likely to rent an apartment specifically because of its electronic-access features, including keyless entry doors. And 55% of Generation Y are likely to pay more for an apartment that has “high-tech” door locks.
In an era of explosive multi-unit residential development, brands are looking for any competitive advantage they can get. Paying attention to (and accommodating) consumers’ mobile preferences can make a big difference and set your brand apart in this critical time.
Download our eBook to learn more about how a branded mobile app can help differentiate your property and keep your residents satisfied.
Property Management Security and Efficiency
Staying competitive isn’t only about making residents happy, however. It’s about making property operations as efficient as possible—and fortunately, smart locks can assist in the efficiency department as well. Managing keys and locks used to consume a significant amount of property managers’ time (and still does at many properties), but smart door locks and access systems are changing all that.
With a smart lock system in place, no more time is wasted on finding lost keys or helping residents locked out of their homes. Confusion about who has key copies is eliminated, as are security concerns about access and permissions. Risk is reduced as well, as there’s no longer a need to leave keys under doormats for housekeepers, pet sitters, maintenance workers or guests. Property managers can even free up resources once devoted to changing locks between tenants. Who knew a small change like smart lock access could have so many operational impacts?
Consolidate Functions for a Smoother Experience
More than a superficial add-on, smart lock integrations can be big business for multi-unit properties. They are enticing to residents and helpful to property managers and staff. That’s why Phunware has partnered with electronic access control leader SALTO Systems to make integrations with their smart locks available in our brandable, pre-built residential property apps. SALTO’s wireless access control system combines a locking device with online, real-time capabilities that eliminate the need for wires or mechanical keys. While residents can gain entry and control access to their doors right from their Phunware-powered property apps, property staff can create and manage keys from the web-based staff portal. The result is a smooth and frustration-free daily experience for both staff and residents—not to mention competitive differentiation and an operational efficiency boost.
Download our case study to see how Phunware’s residential mobile solution is working for Jade Ocean in Miami to improve staff efficiency and satisfy resident needs.
Contact a Phunware residential expert to learn more about providing keyless door lock access capabilities for your property.
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]]>The post Lighting the Way: How Smart Lighting Can Enable Indoor Wayfinding appeared first on Phunware.
]]>Know what’s even smarter? Harnessing the unique capabilities of LED lighting to enable more than just the illumination of spaces—to improve business processes and customer engagement. Here’s how some forward-thinking companies are experimenting with smart lighting for indoor wayfinding and more.
Visible Light Communications: Morse Code Meets Smoke Signals Crossed with Wi-Fi
We’ve talked about using beacons and GPS to enable mobile indoor wayfinding and other location-based services. These different technologies provide different types of location data inputs that can be ingested by a platform (like Phunware’s) and turned into an app user’s location on a map, for example, or used to trigger a proximity-based marketing message.
To learn more, check out the eBook Location Technology 101: Understanding Bluetooth, Blue Dot, Geo-Fencing and More.
All digital messages break down to 1s and 0s. With visible light communications (VLC), 1s and 0s are communicated as “on” and “off.” Because they’re built on semiconductors, LED light fixtures can be programmed to switch on and off in specific patterns so fast that the human eye can’t perceive any flickering. Light sensors—like the camera in your mobile phone—can perceive these patterns and decode / receive the digital message being sent. Smart software (again, like Phunware’s) can turn that digital message into a user experience.
VLC Is a Bright Idea for Indoor Mobile Wayfinding
In fact, wayfinding is one of the most exciting use cases for this technology. Here’s how it works.
- Company A updates its indoor lighting with an energy-efficient LED system, which uses VLC technology to pulse out a fast, unique “I am here” message.
- Company A’s mobile app includes indoor wayfinding. When the wayfinding feature is active, the app leverages the smartphone camera to detect VLC signals.
- The back-end mobile platform interprets each unique VLC signal to pinpoint where the app user is in relationship to the smart lighting system.
- The mobile app represents the user’s location visually on an indoor map and provides turn-by-turn navigation to the user’s destination.
LEDs provide extremely accurate location data for use in mobile wayfinding. The user’s device and position can be identified within one-tenth of a second and updated as often as five times per second. VLC-enabled LED lighting fixtures come in a range of sizes and styles, and can be installed as quickly and easily as traditional lighting fixtures. They represent a smart way to upgrade any facility’s lighting for both energy-efficiency and future mobile use cases.
Solving for the Pocket
VLC’s accuracy depends on a clear line of sight between the user’s device and the VLC module. If the user’s device is in a pocket, purse or messenger bag—or if the camera is temporarily tilted or blocked—location accuracy can be affected. Incorporating Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) physical or virtual beacons as part of the wayfinding solution provides a safety net for instances where devices may not be directly exposed to the LED light, with accuracy up to one meter.
Smart Lighting in More Ways Than One
A VLC-enabled LED lighting system, coupled with a location-enabled mobile solution, lays a foundation for multiple future use cases across every vertical. Mobile wayfinding is just the start—location analytics can help organizations understand consumers better and optimize operations. Mobile data can reveal where people congregate within a space, where bottlenecks occur, how long people stay at a given location and much more. These insights can be used to help shape facility design, streamline foot traffic and serve the public better.
To learn more, check out the eBook Mobile Data: the Missing Link in Your User Acquisition and Engagement Strategies.
When you look farther along VLC’s trajectory, the potential gets even more exciting. Many experts believe “Li-Fi” (light fidelity) networks may complement or even replace Wi-Fi, offering data transfer rates of up to 224 gigabits per second with greater security and higher bandwidth. IEEC Spectrum, the world’s largest technical professional organization for the advancement of technology, likens Li-Fi with IoT (Internet of Things) applications: “We already have nearly all of the infrastructure in place to get it to work. LED lighting is prevalent, intelligent LED lighting is becoming more prevalent, and it’s all affordable and easy to install for consumers.”
Phunware’s mobile platform works as well with VLC as it does with beacons, GPS and Wi-Fi. In fact, Phunware recently partnered with Acuity Brands to provide a joint solution for a indoor wayfinding enabled by LED lighting. We’re offering a fantastic 90-day trial of this solution—get the details here.
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]]>The post The Smart Home of the Future: Will We Live Our Jetsons-Inspired Dreams? appeared first on Phunware.
]]>The Smart Home Summit is an event dedicated to the domestic device ecosystem where industry pros gather to discuss and understand smart home technologies and trends. Home-focused brand giants like Airbnb, Vivint and Coldwell Banker attend the Summit to keep tabs on innovation and interoperability and to understand how they can position themselves for success in the home of the future. I attended on Phunware’s behalf for the same reason—I want to make sure our solutions for the home make sense for where technology is going. Here’s what I learned.
Trends in the Smart Home
Enabling devices to communicate and share information for greater efficiency, automation, security and comfort is what drives the residential IoT market. Smart devices are already making serious headway into our home environments.
- Smart thermostats, locks and lights allow users to remotely adjust temperature, security and lighting via smartphone.
- Smart meters monitor energy consumption and allow homeowners to identify and adjust wasteful activities and appliances.
- Smart appliances help us monitor our supply levels and remind us when we need to take action.
- Virtual assistants are blurring the boundaries between device operating systems to become our constant companions.
There’s also a big focus today on “Home Observation,” the practice of using data to create user profiles and proactively trigger actions in the home based on the user’s behavior. For example: let’s say every morning I wake up and adjust my thermostat to 75, then go to the kitchen, turn on the light and get the coffee machine going. After a week of this routine, the system might send me a push notification asking if I would like to automate it. If I said Yes, this sequence would happen on its own going forward.
When high touch meets high tech, residential properties are able to differentiate themselves from the competition. Learn how mobile apps can take the resident experience well beyond amenities in our eBook: A Day in the Life with App-Enabled Luxury.
The Fragmented IoT Landscape
IoT is in its early days and the industry is very fragmented. Every company seems to be going in a different direction with its hardware. Because there is no standard of communication between devices, most devices exist in closed ecosystems where they can only communicate with others by the same manufacturer. If I have smart devices from ten different brands in my home, I will likely need ten different apps to control them.
Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa and Google Home are popular platforms attempting to solve this fragmentation, but there is still a long way to go. Despite their popularity, they are sold only to individual households, and no single brand has taken ownership as the standard platform for unifying smart devices under one user interface.
Most IoT companies are focused on building hardware for consumers: light bulbs, thermostats, locks and so on—not on controlling multi-unit residences at scale. This is mainly because they lack a platform that can consolidate multiple devices into one user interface to be sold as one complete solution.
While the home IoT landscape remains fragmented, Phunware’s residential solution includes capabilities to integrate common devices such as smart thermostats, smart home automation and smart lighting controls, among others. Mobile’s not going anywhere, even as the number of smart in-home devices climbs. It makes sense for the smartphone to be the hub of the home. Phunware’s residential solution can connect residents with their building services, community and smart devices in their homes, providing one easy-to-use interface for smart living that’s continually getting smarter.
To learn more about Phunware’s solution for residential properties, check out this series of short demo videos that highlight how our resident app and staff dashboard work.
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]]>The post Creating a Luxury Living Experience for Millennials appeared first on Phunware.
]]>Here’s the real problem: expectations are changing because the clientele for luxury living is starting to skew younger, with Millennials now accounting for 13% of the affluent population. According to a UBS Investor Watch report, affluent Millennials (people born ~ 1980-2000) are seeking to enjoy their wealth in real terms.
In the past, success in life was measured in financial and career terms. In recent years, Millennials have expanded this definition of success to include emotional and experiential factors—they want to feel good about their experiences, not just their bank balances. Luxury residential marketers: ignore these trends at your peril!
Learn more in this eBook: A Day in the Life with App-Enabled Luxury.
Here are some examples of how Millennials’ expectations impact the luxury property world:
EXCLUSIVITY
Affluent Millennials seek to live in an environment that’s distinctive, engaging, and stands out from the crowd. According to recent research, wealthy Millennials are less driven by blind brand loyalty and more attracted to unique experiences, stories and adventures—which makes a curated living experience more important than ever before. They’re expected to dominate the luxury marketplace within the next few years, so it’s time to rethink old approaches now.
TECHNOLOGY
Because Millennials have grown up with easy access to lightning-fast technology innovation, they tend to be early adopters and have high expectations. The average Millennial American internet user uses a whopping SEVEN devices. Technology that seems dated or complicated is an immediate turn-off.
EFFICIENCY
Affluent Millennials don’t just want brands to act resources to them—they expect it. They’re looking for high-tech automation in their exclusive living environments. They want to get more done in less time and with greater ease.
Learn more in this infographic: How Daily Mobile Users Live Now & Where Mobile Goes Next.
ENGAGEMENT
Luxury property developers and managers must balance fulfilling a resident’s need for exclusivity and efficiency with the right level and quality of engagement. They may just need to rethink the engagement medium: many residents today prefer digital self-service to phone or in-person engagement. After all, 26- to 35-year-olds check their phones an average of 91 times daily, and 17- to 25-year-olds check 123 times. That’s plenty of engagement opportunity!
Millennials are looking for a distinctive way to use technology for better experiences. And a mobile app, integrated into your property management systems, is one way to give your residents what they want.
A mobile app can put luxury lifestyle management at your residents’ fingertips. With it, residents no longer need to waste time waiting for calls to be answered or returned just to reserve an amenity or request maintenance. Every service your property offers is immediately accessible through the app and satisfaction happens in real time, day or night. And luckily for you, over half of millennials (51%) will download a new app if it will connect them with a service they want to use.
An app can enhance the personalized luxury services you are already providing and make residents happy. Happy residents pay their rent on time, stay at your property longer and spread positive word-of-mouth to friends about their experience.
Imagine an app that enables these experiences and more:
- Push-button access to amenities
- View cameras around the property
- Convenient instant messaging
- Direct line to the concierge
- Package delivery alerts
- Request valet parking services
- Manage visitor lists
- Submit work orders
- Browse community calendar and news
- Explore neighborhood points of interest
- Integrate with smart home systems
The usefulness of a custom app for your property is virtually limitless. It gives your residents the experience they want, reinforces your brand and makes engagement with potential residents unique, dynamic and efficient.
For more information on how an app can differentiate your property in the eyes of prospective residents—not to mention streamlining property management—check out our eBook: Redefining Luxury LIving: Branded Apps for High-End Properties.
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]]>The post Phunware Raises $30 Million to Accelerate Global Leadership in Multiscreen Software Solutions for Up to 50 Billion Connected Devices appeared first on Phunware.
]]>Austin, TX (PRWEB) [March 18, 2014] – Phunware, the pioneer of Multiscreen as a Service (MaaS), the first fully integrated services platform that enables brands to engage, manage and monetize their anytime anywhere users worldwide, today announced that it has raised $26.25 million of Series E funding led by Firsthand Technology Value Fund (NASDAQ: SVVC). The balance of the oversubscribed $30 million funding round is expected to close in the next 60 days.
The initial closing of the round includes additional investment by current investors Fraser McCombs Ventures, Maxima Ventures, Wild Basin Investment and the Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN), as well as new strategic investors Cisco and WWE (NYSE: WWE). The investment brings the total raised by Phunware to $43M. With the investment, Kevin Landis, Chairman and President of Firsthand, and Chase Fraser, Managing Partner of Fraser McCombs Capital, join Phunware’s board of directors.
Founded in 2009, and headquartered in Austin, Phunware has achieved dramatic growth since inception and closed 2013 with revenues of $22.1M. The company currently supports more than 1 trillion annual transactions on its “multiscreen cloud platform” across nearly 190 countries and 10 languages. Phunware, The Software of Things
, is ranked # 36 on the Forbes list of America’s Most Promising Companies, # 40 on the Inc. 500 list of America’s Fastest Growing Companies and # 1 on Austin Business Journal’s Fast50 list for Central Texas. The company is responsible for multiscreen infrastructure, software and application development services for an impressive list of top-tier customers including E! Entertainment Television, NBC Sports, WWE, NASCAR, CBS, Qualcomm, Edmunds, Jawbone, HomeAway, Turner, UHealth, Transamerica, King, Warner Brothers, AT&T and Adobe amongst many others.
“Phunware has proven its ability to support the largest brands in the world on the largest stages in the world at scale,” said Kevin Landis, Chairman and President of Firsthand. “We are extremely excited to be joining the Phunware team and equally enthusiastic about the company’s multiscreen platform vision for the future.”
Forrester estimates that the Mobile Services Market will soar to $32.4 billion globally by 2018[i] and that mobile engagement providers will need strong end-to-end competencies in order to act as providers of record. In parallel, eMarketer estimates that Mobile Ad Spending will balloon to $72.3 billion by 2017[ii], up nearly 10 times over 2012 spending levels. As a result, there is market opportunity exceeding $100 billion for those brands interested in engaging, managing and monetizing the 50 billion connected devices expected to compose the Internet of Things by 2020[iii].
Phunware’s fully-integrated, native and mobile-first solutions make it easy for any brand to add multiscreen application support for content management, location based services, advertising, alerts and notifications and business intelligence and analytics through the use of a single login on a single platform with a single partner. This unique and comprehensive solutions-based approach reduces both the cost and complexity that brands have been forced to tolerate historically with an ecosystem filled with fragmented, incomplete and non-integrated point products.
“We continue to have a very ambitious vision for Phunware – to enable our customers to engage, manage and monetize every connected device on Earth,” commented Alan S. Knitowski, Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Phunware. “We have achieved tremendous growth since inception and this new funding will further accelerate our MaaS platform investments and geographic reach in supporting the multiscreen goals and objectives of our brands’ anytime anywhere audiences globally. 50 billion devices will mean 50 billion opportunities … and we intend to touch them all.”
For more information about current and upcoming products, as well as case studies from Phunware’s impressive list of global brands, please visit www.phunware.com.
About Phunware
Phunware is the pioneer of Multiscreen as a Service (MaaS), the first fully integrated services platform that enables brands to engage, manage and monetize their anytime anywhere users worldwide. Phunware, The Software of Things, has introduced category-defining experiences that challenge the outer limits of the most advanced connected devices for the world’s most respected brands and develops next-generation technologies and solutions that transform how the world interacts with and uses these connected devices. The company has a 4 year percentage growth of 17,824% and is ranked # 36 on the Forbes list of America’s Most Promising Companies, # 40 on the Inc. 500 list of America’s Fastest Growing Companies and # 1 on Austin Business Journal’s Fast50 list for Central Texas. For more information, please visit www.phunware.com and follow us on Twitter @phunware.
About Firsthand Technology Value Fund
Firsthand Technology Value Fund, Inc., is a publicly-traded venture capital fund that invests in technology and cleantech companies. The Fund offers retail investors an opportunity to invest in pre-IPO companies that typically are available only to institutional and high net worth investors. More information about the Fund and its holdings can be found online at www.firsthandtvf.com.
About Fraser McCombs Ventures
Fraser McCombs Ventures, LP, specializes in early and mid stage technology investments, with a focus in mobile and niche technology within specific verticals. For more information, please visit www.fmcap.com.
About Maxima Ventures
Maxima Ventures are investment vehicles under the management of Maxima Capital Management, Inc., which is based in Taiwan and specializes in early and mid stage investments in technology, supply chain, e-commerce and mobile applications. For more information, please visit www.maximavc.com.
About Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN)
The Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN), an organized Angel Investing network of approximately 120 members, is one of the largest Angel Networks in the nation. In 2013 alone, CTAN led the nation in deal flow[iv] and ranked # 4 for invested capital, funding 33 companies for over $9.6M. CTAN was founded in 2007, and has invested over $40M in approximately 90 startup companies.
About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company, is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 150 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 650 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, Miami, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Munich and Tokyo. Additional information on WWE can be found at www.wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.
i John C. McCarthy and Ted Schadler, with Khalid Kark and Nancy Wang, “Wanted: Mobile Engagement Providers,” Forrester Research, August 6, 2013.
ii “Across Industries, Mobile Ad Spend Increases Dramatically,” eMarketer, January 2, 2014.
iii Jeffrey Burt, “Cisco CEO Chambers to Focus on Internet of Everything at CES,” eWEEK.com, January 6, 2014.
iv Christopher Calnan, “Austin-area angel investing tops the nation,” October 16, 2013.
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