Velti

Velti

Type	Former Public company
Industry	Mobile Marketing and Advertising
Key people	Alex Moukas, Chief Executive Officer
Products	Velti Exchange
Services	• Mobile media planning • Mobile ad serving/ad routing • Mobile websites • Mobile applications • Mobile commerce • Mobile CRM • Loyalty solutions • Opt-in advertising • Large scale promotions for mobile operators
Website	www.velti.com

Velti is a provider of mobile marketing and advertising technology for brands, advertising agencies, mobile operators, and media groups. In 2010, Velti used its platform to run more than 2,700 campaigns for more than 825 brands, advertising agencies and mobile operators worldwide. In 2013 Velti filed for bankruptcy protection.

Velti’s traditional clients are telecommunications providers around the world such as Vodafone, Orange, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Telenor, Cellular South, China Mobile, China Unicom, and Telkomsel. As of 2011, 8 of the 10 largest mobile operators (based on number of subscribers) were clients of Velti.^[1]

Velti also offers mobile marketing and advertising services in both Europe and the United States. Velti has offices in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, London, Dublin, Athens, Düsseldorf, Paris, Moscow, Sofia, Shanghai, Beijing, and New Delhi. The registered office of the company is in Jersey.

History

Velti was founded in 2001 by Alex Moukas^[2] and Chris Kaskavelis^[3] as a software and ASP provider serving the telecommunications industry. The same year, Nicholas Negroponte, then the laboratory chairman of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, joined the company as a non-executive director. In 2002, Velti secured its first mobile marketing and notifications engagement with Vodafone; by the end of that year, the company had reached 35 employees.

Velti expanded into the United States in 2003 with the creation of a U.S. sales team based in in Boston, Massachusetts. Over the following three years, the company created text messaging applications for Sony Ericsson and Odeon, won its first contract with Telecom Italia, and secure revenue share agreements with five Tier 1 European mobile operators. New services included Argos,^[4] a fully managed mobile commerce service, and a mobile music community and mobile ticketing program developed for Orange UK.

After a 2006 initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange's AIM Market,^[5] Velti further expanded its U.S. operations with the opening of an office in New York. A San Francisco office was created the following year.

Beginning in 2007, Velti entered into a series of joint ventures and partnerships designed to expand the company’s global footprint and service offerings. That year, Velti partnered with the Interpublic Group to create Ansible, a mobile marketing joint venture.^[6] Operating as a standalone business unit within the Interpublic Futures Marketing Group, Ansible used Velti technology and services to work with brands, agencies and content providers in all markets, including agencies throughout the Interpublic holding company. Ansible is headquartered in New York with offices in San Francisco, Detroit, and London. The joint venture concluded in 2010 and Ansible is now wholly owned by the Interpublic Group.

In 2008, Velti gained the ability to execute mobile campaigns in the Chinese market through the opening of a new office in Beijing and an investment in CASEE,^[7] the largest mobile advertising exchange in China. In India, Velti partnered with HT Media Limited, India’s second-largest media group, on a mobile marketing joint venture called HT Mobile Solutions.^[8] Operating in New Delhi and Mumbai, the company uses Velti technology to help network operators, brands, and agencies plan, execute, and monitor media campaigns across all media channels, including mobile, TV, online, and print. 2008 also saw the opening of a new Velti office in Moscow.^[9]

In 2009, Velti announced the acquisition of Ad Infuse, a provider of personalized mobile advertising in the U.S., broadening Velti’s U.S. presence and increasing the company’s headcount to more than 400, including more than 200 technology staff.^[10] An enhanced global product offering helped the company win the business of major operators including Vodafone, Orange, MTS, Orascom-WIND, MTEL, Vivatel, and SingTel.

In 2010, Velti announced Velti mGage, for the mobile marketing and advertising lifecycle,^[11] which by the end of the year had run over 2,700 campaigns for more than 800 customers. Also in 2010, the company announced the acquisition of Mobclix,^[12] the leading exchange for ad inventory on mobile applications. At the time of acquisition, Mobclix served more than 3,280 ad requests per second or 8.5 billion ad requests per month through more than 15,000 mobile application developers who collectively had downloaded the Mobclix SDK more than 312,000 times. A second 2010 acquisition added Media Cannon,^[13] a developer of mobile advertising tools and technology. By the end of 2010, Velti had grown to more than 500 employees in 30 countries.

In January, 2011, Velti completed an initial public offering of 12 million common stock shares on NASDAQ under the trading symbol VELT. The IPO raised approximately $150 million.^[14] In March 2011, Velti launched the Velti mGage Marketplace, the world’s first global mobile media exchange.^[15]

In late summer 2013, Velti was forced to write down nearly $111 million from Q2 2013 revenues, laying off nearly 200 employees and placing Mobclix on the chopping block to raise spare cash. These actions led to a stock nosedive to mere pennies a share, while rumors of bankruptcy swirled.^[16]

On November 4th 2013, Velti files for bankruptcy protection. ^[17]

On December 16th 2013, Velti de-listed from the Nasdaq market after declaring: "The voluntary decision to delist from NASDAQ was taken following the Company's review of several factors, including its previously disclosed noncompliance with the minimum bid price requirements of NASDAQ. Also among these factors is the Company's inability to satisfy questions raised by NASDAQ concerning its ability to maintain eligibility for continued listing on NASDAQ following completion of its proposed sale of its mobile marketing business, as well as the Chapter 11 proceedings for certain of its U.S. subsidiaries and the Chapter 7 filing of Mobclix." ^[18]

Products

The Velti mGage mobile marketing platform supports processes across the marketing and advertising lifecycle including media planning, ad serving and ad routing services, the creation of mobile Internet sites and landing pages, various post-click mobile marketing activities, and mobile analytics.^[19]

Recognition

• 2006:

Top 10 technology stock within AIM for growth^[20]

• 2007:

MAMA Innovation Award for Technology in Marketing and Advertising^[21]

MMA Global Award Finalist: Innovation for Creativity in Technology^[22]

• 2008:

Frost & Sullivan’s 2008 European Award for Growth Strategy Leadership in the Mobile Advertising Market^[23]

Listed in UK’s Top Software Companies for 2008 by Price Waterhouse Coopers^[24]

• 2009:

Media Momentum 2009 award for the fastest growing larger company^[25]

• 2010:

Effective Mobile Marketing Awards (EMMAs): Most Effective Mobile CRM/Enterprise Messaging Campaign, Argos “Text & take home” Service^[26]

• 2012:

2012 Juniper Research Future Mobile Award^[27]

References

External links

• Official website
• Velti mGage portal