Telefónica’s Axonix acquires leading UK geolocation data startup Statiq

Telefónica’s programmatic trading platform, Axonix, has acquired British mobile geolocation data startup Statiq.

The investment has been driven by Axonix’s scale and diversification strategy and will give the Spanish telecoms company a wealth of data to better target consumers.

Statiq launched in 2013 and has built a portfolio of partners ranging from demand side platforms to ad networks. The service processes “billions” of location data signals to identify the places people visit and subsequently build consumer profiles around them. The data can also tell advertisers whether a consumer visited a retail store after seeing a mobile ad.

“The expertise, skills and understanding of location data that the Statiq team bring with them is unparalleled,” said Axonix chief executive, Simon Bailey. “Combining this with the unique and verified first party data sets will create a significantly superior and differentiated product set.”

Tim Finn, chief executive of Statiq, added: “Location intelligence has become a critical capability for digital marketers across all channels. Location-based mobile advertising in particular is fast becoming a key competitive differentiator as mobile ad players enjoy the benefits of providing a highly personalised, relevant and timely user experience. This type of location data is highly valued on exchanges – uniting Statiq’s data and analytics products with Axonix programmatic platform we are able to enrich the whole experience for brands and agencies.”

The acquisition, reportedly in the region of £3.5m, also means that O2’s mobile marketing and insights provider Weve, which is integrated with Axonix technology, will offer UK advertisers an enhanced and expanded location data solution. It brings together Statiq’s GPS-based footfall measurement, telco data, and insights from across O2’s 15,000 Wi-Fi hotspots and will provide advertisers with greater insights into audience behaviour and campaign performance at a granular level.

Statiq and Axonix will combine offices in London as well as maintain offices in Barcelona and Kiev. Statiq will continue to operate under the same brand.

In February, Axonix’s parent company, Telefónica, launched a new digital personal assistant called Aura. The app gives customers control of their own data by allowing them to decide whether or not to share data with third parties such as Google or Facebook.

Source: The Drum

  Advertising, Axonix, Data, Digital, Geolocation, Marketing, Mergers & Acquisitions, Mobile, Programmatic, Statiq, Technology, Telefonica