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Broadband & Mobile Featured Article
December 17, 2007
LBS Solutions Vendor SquareLoop Gets $1 Million in Funding from Private Investors
By Patrick Barnard TMCnet Contributing Editor
Wireless location-based services solution vendor SquareLoop Inc. has reportedly received an angel investment of $1 million which it will use to enhance its sales, marketing and product development efforts. The company’s investors include a number of prominent Washington, D.C., area individuals, including Raul Fernandez, CEO of Object Video; Nigel Morris, co-founder of Capital One; Jack Davis, founder of AOL (News - Alert) International; The McDonnell Family, Zeitgeist Holdings; and the Center for Innovative Technology GAP Fund, among others.
Location-based services (LBS) is a rapidly growing segment in the wireless communications industry. Basically it is technology that lets a mobile user receive content based on his or her location on their mobile handset – and the information changes as the user moves location to location. For example, a user traveling through New York City might be able to get information about shows and restaurants in the immediate area where they are located. Or a user traveling on a busy highway might get an alert about an upcoming traffic jam. LBS can also play an important role in emergency services, in that it enables municipalities and government agencies to send emergency notifications to mobile users in a particular area. GPS is a major ingredient in making LBS technology work. Many handset makers are now building LBS-capable handsets.
SquareLoop’s Mobile Alert Network is an LBS application which can be used for critical communications, such as emergency, weather and traffic alerts, as well as advertiser supported content. The company claims that it is the only service available that enables users to opt-in to receive information based on their current or past location. The solution is also unique in that it does not require tracking a user's location in real time. Instead the intelligence is built into the handset in order to maintain individual privacy.
"SquareLoop is a pioneer in merging wireless LBS and messaging, approaching service delivery in a unique way that sets the company far apart from others in this sector," Fernandez said in a press release. "The company has a vision in which LBS technology can be used for multiple applications - from emergency alerts to mobile marketing - and offer customized features, such as geographic targeting, sender-defined alert tones and rich media messaging, that are not available from other providers."
SquareLoop is a recipient of the Emerging Technology award for Messaging and Mobile Marketing, presented by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA (News - Alert)). The company’s patented technology was originally developed by The MITRE Corp. for military applications.
W. David Stephenson, a crisis management expert and principal at the homeland security firm Stephenson Strategies, pointed out that “a number of high profile events this year have underscored the need for geographically targeted messaging services that can distribute emergency alerts to mobile devices.”
"SquareLoop's location-based technology not only gets messages to the right people before, during, and after an emergency occurs, but it also eliminates legitimate privacy concerns because the unique application does not require tracking of individuals,” Stephenson said.
Virginia based SquareLoop last made news on TMCnet in March 2006 when it announced that it was testing its location-based cellular messaging system in the city of Manassas, Va. Specifically, the company and the local government in Manassas were testing the delivery of emergency messages to users’ cell phones in the event of a disaster requiring evacuation.
SquareLoop claims that with its new technology, municipalities can deliver critical -- perhaps even life-saving -- messages to citizens in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. The messages, which can be differentiated based on geographic location, can tell people where to go and what to do while they are in the process of evacuating an area. Such alerts can be sent via a web-based interface or via existing emergency management systems. The system can also be used to deliver AMBER alerts.
For more information, visit www.squareloop.com.
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Patrick Barnard is Assignment Editor for TMCnet and Associate Editor for Customer Interaction Solutions magazine. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.
Location-based services (LBS) is a rapidly growing segment in the wireless communications industry. Basically it is technology that lets a mobile user receive content based on his or her location on their mobile handset – and the information changes as the user moves location to location. For example, a user traveling through New York City might be able to get information about shows and restaurants in the immediate area where they are located. Or a user traveling on a busy highway might get an alert about an upcoming traffic jam. LBS can also play an important role in emergency services, in that it enables municipalities and government agencies to send emergency notifications to mobile users in a particular area. GPS is a major ingredient in making LBS technology work. Many handset makers are now building LBS-capable handsets.
SquareLoop’s Mobile Alert Network is an LBS application which can be used for critical communications, such as emergency, weather and traffic alerts, as well as advertiser supported content. The company claims that it is the only service available that enables users to opt-in to receive information based on their current or past location. The solution is also unique in that it does not require tracking a user's location in real time. Instead the intelligence is built into the handset in order to maintain individual privacy.
"SquareLoop is a pioneer in merging wireless LBS and messaging, approaching service delivery in a unique way that sets the company far apart from others in this sector," Fernandez said in a press release. "The company has a vision in which LBS technology can be used for multiple applications - from emergency alerts to mobile marketing - and offer customized features, such as geographic targeting, sender-defined alert tones and rich media messaging, that are not available from other providers."
SquareLoop is a recipient of the Emerging Technology award for Messaging and Mobile Marketing, presented by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA (News - Alert)). The company’s patented technology was originally developed by The MITRE Corp. for military applications.
W. David Stephenson, a crisis management expert and principal at the homeland security firm Stephenson Strategies, pointed out that “a number of high profile events this year have underscored the need for geographically targeted messaging services that can distribute emergency alerts to mobile devices.”
"SquareLoop's location-based technology not only gets messages to the right people before, during, and after an emergency occurs, but it also eliminates legitimate privacy concerns because the unique application does not require tracking of individuals,” Stephenson said.
Virginia based SquareLoop last made news on TMCnet in March 2006 when it announced that it was testing its location-based cellular messaging system in the city of Manassas, Va. Specifically, the company and the local government in Manassas were testing the delivery of emergency messages to users’ cell phones in the event of a disaster requiring evacuation.
SquareLoop claims that with its new technology, municipalities can deliver critical -- perhaps even life-saving -- messages to citizens in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. The messages, which can be differentiated based on geographic location, can tell people where to go and what to do while they are in the process of evacuating an area. Such alerts can be sent via a web-based interface or via existing emergency management systems. The system can also be used to deliver AMBER alerts.
For more information, visit www.squareloop.com.
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Patrick Barnard is Assignment Editor for TMCnet and Associate Editor for Customer Interaction Solutions magazine. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.
