Recently plumped with cash, the founders of a location-based mobile application sit on the verge of an aggressive expansion in five cities and a hiring spree that hinges on rolling out an enhanced product.
The anticipated August launch for me360 LLC’s upgrade coincides with recent patents and a $2 million pledged investment from Jon Darbyshire’s Archer Capital, making it the group’s largest commitment to date.
Started in March 2010, me360 now has eight full-time employees and plans to immediately hire 20 to 30 outside sales reps to push the ramped-up app. The company expects to have more than 100 employees by early 2012.
“These guys are so talented,” Archer Capital CEO Darbyshire said. “They’re going to be successful at something — we hope it’s me360. They have hit upon an interesting way of making the retail experience more social, more engaging.”
Me360 CEO Matt Beckner, his brother and President Sean Beckner and COO Bart Janssen have pulled together an app that connects cell phone users with businesses, such as restaurants or spas, within a 10-mile radius of the user’s current location.
“Obviously, it’s a hot space,” Sean Beckner said. “There are so many apps out there.”
Location-based apps, such as Foursquare and Facebook Places, are gaining popularity, as are restaurant review websites, such as Yelp and Urban Spoon.
“The goal is to crack the nut in Kansas City,” Matt Beckner said. “A lot of people are trying, but no one’s doing it.”
The company goes beyond providing contact information for businesses. The me360 app combines reviews with location-based technology and integrates them with social media sites, hoping to create a back-ended, nontraditional and promotional portal for businesses, Matt Beckner said. For participating businesses, the app showcases daily specials, coupons, recommendations and other information.
The app boasts more than 10,000 users, but business participation has paled in comparison. The company initially charged 50 cents per click to businesses that listed their specials and promotions on the app after its November 2010 launch. During the next six months, me360 slowly attracted about 200 businesses.
After connecting with Archer Capital, which helped the company tweak the product and its business model, me360 nixed the fees three weeks ago and now is attracting businesses at a rate of 100 to 200 per week. Recent businesses to sign on include Ingredient restaurants, GNC, 54th Street Grill, Tomfooleries Restaurant and Bar, Firehouse Subs and Anytime Fitness.
The company is on the cusp of reintroducing charges for businesses, but only if they opt for the new interactive upgrades that Darbyshire is backing with Archer Capital.
Archer Capital is the investment arm of the Archer Foundation, which Darbyshire started after selling his compliance software business, Archer Technologies LLC, to EMC Corp. in January 2010. Overland Park-based Archer Capital supports a variety of startups but so far has shown a preference for investments ranging from $200,000 to $400,000, mainly in tech companies.
Archer provided $500,000 to me360 in early May. Darbyshire offered me360 space in Archer’s business incubator at Corporate Woods, where the eight-employee company quickly relocated from its space at Metcalf Avenue and College Boulevard. The boost came on top of $700,000 from previous investors.
Within four months, Darbyshire said Archer will make a series of additional payments totaling $1.5 million, pending the completion of a more interactive app. He said the new app’s features will include more tracking capabilities for businesses, which will be able to access gift features for customers who find businesses through me360.
Darbyshire said Archer and me360 are finalizing the five cities me360 will add to the new application when it launches in two months.
“All of these resources are to help them go to market quicker,” he said.
The mobile application from Overland Park-based me360 LLC helps a user find restaurants and other businesses within a 10-mile radius of a user’s current location. The app has roughly 10,000 registered users. Here’s how it works:
• Home screen: Users can see where they are located automatically and pick from multiple category options, including health and beauty, shopping, recreation, restaurants, coffee and bars.
• Search: Users can find businesses with specials, coupons or that friends have recommended.
• Results: Businesses within a 10-mile radius will pop up on the screen. Participating me360 locations will appear with relevant content, including ongoing specials, events, a brief description, hours of operation, method of payment, daily specials and promotions. Only basic contact information will appear for non-me360 participants.
• Coupons: Download coupons from the phone. Redeem the coupons immediately by showing them to servers or cashier clerks.
• Social: The application is integrated with Twitter and Facebook, so users can recommend spots to friends and followers.
Alyson Raletz reports about technology, telecommunications, and engineering and architecture firms for the Kansas City Business Journal. Contact her at araletz@bizjournals.com or 816-777-2234. Read her blog postings at KCBizBeat or follow her on Twitter.