Geolocation Specialist Takes Money and Runs

PlaceIQ - which uses location profiles to target relevant ads to mobile users - has raised $4.2m in series A funding, which it will use to relocate from Boulder, Colorado to New York, in order to be closer to 'customers, partners, and the general ecosystem'.

The firm gathers geolocation data from social networks, tweets and 'check-ins' to cell phones, along with retail information and local events. Sentiment analysis and other techniques are then used to create profiles of the type of people who are likely to be in specific places at specific times, and this data is used by advertisers to target mobile users with relevant ads based on where they are.

PlaceIQ's funding, which has been led by US Venture Partners with Valhalla Partners joining existing investors IA Ventures, kbs+p Ventures and Jerry Neumann, will also be used to expand the team and product portfolio while driving revenue across a number of markets.

CEO and co-founder Duncan McCall (pictured) comments: '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.'

Web site: www.placeiq.com .