The future of mobile investing
Posted on 19. Apr, 2011 by Ira Yellen in angel investing, Blog, entrepreneurs, innovation, interactive, Recent Company News, technology
At the annual conference of the Angel Capital Association Annual Summit (April 4-6) in Cambridge, MA, experts in the field of angel and venture capital funding, and entrepreneurs and investors were sharing trends and investment ideas.
One of the interesting sessions was in the business to enterprise mobile, aka location marketing. The session explored the future of mobile communications that expect great growth in the next 5-10 years. Speakers included:
Chuck Goldman, former Apple mobile manager, now principal of Apperian, strategic developer of mobile app for large enterprises
Brian Hoskins, director, strategic & emerging business team, Microsoft
Joseph Sanborn, director, merger and acquisitions, Rutberg &Co, Research centric investment bank that provides M&A advisory services for companies raising mid to late stage capital in the wireless and digital media industries.
The move from mobile voice to mobile data has exploded and will continue especially in the use of smart phones and ipads/tablets. The discussion included the future of apps, phones for purchasing along with the types of smart phones, their advantages and disadvantages. There was interesting data to suggest that local merchants and mobile marketing will be the fastest growing market over the next 18 to 24 months. Merchants will have to advertise and provide payment systems using smart phones, if they plan to grow especially in the under 30 year old demographic group. Apps that find a way to combine location, linking with friends, real time discounts (electronic coupons), and merchant interaction will be the winners in this emerging competitive market.
The most important message of this session was how merchants and customers can build new ways in forming relationships using mobile location marketing. Let’s see if it can.