South African digital media firm Tritech Media has acquired an effective 51 per cent interest in local real-time proximity advertising startup Ionizr.
Launched in September 2015, Ionizr claims to be the first company in South Africa that combines technology, internet of things, analytics, marketing and digital media to provide advanced data-driven location-based marketing and advertising services.
Through its proprietary technology, Ionizr provides analytics-driven location-based mobile engagement tools for mall owners, retail tenants and advertisers; allowing them to direct customised marketing content to specific targeted consumers.
Founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Tritech Media William Kirsh said the acquisition sees Tritech consolidate its first mover advantage in preparation for the impending boom in location-based advertising.
“As the media industry moves away from broad-stroke traditional media to measurable precise digital communications, we are ideally placed to be the industry leader,” said Kirsh.
“Location-based marketing services are growing at an extraordinary rate and are anticipated to rise from US$10 billion currently to around US$18 billion globally by 2019. Ionizr also gives us an in-store presence where 90 per cent of retail purchase decisions are made.”
Ionizr founder and CEO Wayne Venter retains 49 per cent of the company under the deal.
“We built a global leading platform that helps retailers understand their visitors as well as engage with them. Our platform offers a powerful marketing and analytics tool that generates additional revenue, drives customer loyalty, delivers optimal returns on investment and provide valuable insights,” said Venter.
“We’re excited about developing our platform as a Tritech Media portfolio company, harnessing group synergies as we meet very encouraging demand growth.”
Ionizr has also developed relationships with digital marketing agencies working with 242 shopping malls in South Africa, who will exclusively promote and sell the Ionizr platform as well as exclusively produce mobile engagement campaigns for the startup.
Ionizr already operates in a number of malls across the country, and says its early results are exceeding expectations.
The acquisition is the latest in a string of recent activity by Tritech Media, which in August last year acquired a 25 per cent stake in mobile rewards startup platform TuYu; and in December acquired a 45 per cent interest in gaming agency GameZBoost. In both cases Tritech retains the option to increase its stake to 50.1 per cent.
