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GPS-Guided Coupons
The Investor: Jeff Crowe, general partner, Norwest Venture PartnersWhat he's backed: Jigsaw, Nano-Tex, Telcontar What he wants now: GPS-enabled ads and coupons piped to your mobile phone at just the right time and place. Location-based marketing is a concept that's been bandied about for years, but only now is the required technology becoming cheap enough to implement. Companies like Yahoo and Google, meanwhile, have proven inept at building quality services for wireless carriers. Though the timing is ideal for a startup to build the technical pieces, persuading customers to sign up for a steady barrage of marketing offers may prove the bigger challenge. "The behavioral piece is the biggest uncertainty, but you've got to make your bets now," Crowe says. A startup needs experience in lightweight applications for cell phones and in location-based services. What he'll invest: $3 million for a demo application and retail partners ready to test Send your pitch to: bizplans@nvp.com. -- M.V.C. |
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