Cint Acquires Wiltse's Thumbspeak

Online sample exchange Cint has acquired DIY mobile measurement agency Thumbspeak, just seven months after it was set up by Vovici's former Chairman and CEO Dean Wiltse. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ, Thumbspeak offers a self-service solution for entering questions online and sending them to targeted, mobile audiences.

The firm's mobile relationship marketing platform - which enables businesses and researchers to connect with audiences in real-time via their smart phones - has already been rolled out for iPhone, while Android and Blackberry apps are just days away from being launched.

As part of the acquisition, Thumbspeak becomes a Cint Group company and will be integrated into the Cint Panel Exchange (CPX) platform as a plug-in for existing and new panel owners, while continuing to be sold as a standalone licensed product under its existing brand name.

Wiltse (pictured) - who was CEO of Greenfield Online before leading Vovici - will join Cint as President, to lead continued development of the mobile SaaS (software as a service) platform, supported by his colleague, Thumbspeak CTO Endre Horvath.

Cint founder and CEO Bo Mattson comments: 'Adding Thumbspeak's smart device solution will enable researchers accessing our CPX platform to gather insights and conduct research from specific targeted groups on their smart phones - including individuals who are becoming more difficult to reach online or offline.'

Initially available in North America, Mattson says that Thumbspeak will be rolled out across a number of international markets in the near future.

Web sites: www.cint.com and www.thumbspeak.com .