Innosphere Ventures Fund invests in mobile advertising firm

FORT COLLINS — Innosphere Ventures Fund has invested in a $3 million seed funding round for Nickelytics LLC, a 6-year-old company based in Tampa, Florida, that specializes in out-of-home and digital advertising.

John Smith, a general partner with Innosphere Ventures Fund, told BizWest on Tuesday that it partnered with The Players Co. on investing in the seed round. As part of the transaction, Smith and Tom Zheng, Players’ co-founder and CEO, will join Nickelytics’ board of directors.

Affiliated with Fort Collins-based technology incubator Innosphere Ventures, the venture-capital fund specializes in early-stage investments for companies that are driving innovation in the business-to-business, software-as-a-solution, cleantech and medtech sectors.

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Nickelytics offers brands and agencies advertising solutions through car wraps, sidewalk robots and other out-of-home products. By partnering with mobility brands, Nickelytics connects them to new revenue streams, delivering ad creatives and measurable return on investments.

“They have an innovative approach to OOH advertising, and the SaaS does the analytics to show how well these ads are performing,” Smith said.

“They’re really focused on mobility advertising,” Smith said, “ such as putting the ads on delivery robots in cities and on university campuses, or wrapping a ride-share vehicle with an ad.”

He said since Uber and Lyft drivers own their own vehicles, Nickelytics contracts directly with the drivers, not the ride-share companies.

As a customer who places the ads, Smith said, “you can now see, through their software, how effective your ad campaign is and how effective your ROI has been.”

Judah Longgrear, CEO and co-founder of Nickelytics, said in a prepared statement that “securing investment from Innosphere Ventures is a pivotal moment for Nickelytics. We are thrilled to collaborate with such an experienced and successful operator and investor, John Smith, and his team. Their expertise and strategic insight will be instrumental in helping us scale and better serve our customers.”

Nickelytics, which initially was known as The Nickel Ride, was acquired last August by Texas-based venture capital group T72 Club Inc.