South African digital media firm Tritech Media has acquired a 25 per cent stake in real-time location-based technology leader ProximityID, with an option to increase its holding to 50.1 per cent.
It is the latest investment by the company, which is controlled by the Kirsh family and in April invested in another local real-time proximity advertising startup, Ionizr.
The remainder of the shares in ProximityID are held by the founders of the business and leading fintech company Synthesis Ventures, a subsidiary of Synthesis Software Technologies, which developed the technology.
Real-time location-based marketing in shopping malls and retail tenants is considered the fastest growing sector of the advertising industry, and is projected to grow to US$18 billion by 2018. Tritech said ProximityID’s vision was to bridge the gap between customer and retailer in a highly precise and innovative way, improving the customer’s shopping experience and providing retailers with the ability to provide unparalleled customer service.
ProximityID can accurately determine a consumer’s presence at the point of sale (POS) and transmit the required encrypted credentials enabling a cardless loyalty and rewards system with automatic customer acknowledgement.
“We are delighted shortly after the Ionizr acquisition, to now further entrench ourselves in this attractive, fast-growing sector of the advertising industry. ProximityID and Ionizr have such a great complementary fit,” said William Kirsh, chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Tritech Media.
“This acquisition further underscores our leading position as South Africa’s only and leading corporate precision-based communications group. Both Ionizr and ProximityID will also benefit from the geospatial data around shopping malls from our recently-announced acquisition of Geospatial Data Solutions.”
Wayne Gluckmann, CEO and co-founder of ProximityID, said he was excited to become part of Tritech Media.
“The complementary fit with Ionizr is compelling. The relationship with Ionizr will speed up our route to market and its scope,” he said. “We look forward to working together on this unique end-to-end solution, providing retailers and shopping centre owners with a 360-degree view of their customer’s journey and the ability to offer pin-point personalised engagement.”
