Location Measurement Firm PlaceIQ Raises $6.75m

In the US, location-based mobile audience builder PlaceIQ has raised $6.75m in Series B funding, which it will use to expand its reach and ramp up its 'Place Visit Rate' (PVR) metric, designed to measure real-world, in-store ROI.

PlaceIQ gathers geolocation data from social networks, tweets and 'check-ins' to cell phones, along with retail information and local events. Sentiment analysis and other techniques are then used to create profiles of the type of people who are likely to be in specific places at specific times, and this data is used by advertisers to target mobile users with relevant ads based on where they are.

The firm's recently launched PVR mobile metric has been developed to uncover the ratio of people who viewed mobile ads for a physical retailer and who were subsequently observed in that store.

New funding has been led by US Venture Partners, supported by IA Ventures, Valhalla Partners, kbs+ Ventures, and several prominent angel investors, and adds to the $4.2m in series A funding which the firm secured in 2011.

CEO and co-founder Duncan McCall (pictured) comments: 'In the past year, we've witnessed explosive growth in demand from our channel partners, and agencies and brands. We will be using this additional funding to cement our leadership positioning in the space, ensuring that we are able to continue to bring market defining products and measures - such as the Place Visit Rate to our clients.'

With headquarters in New York, and additional offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boulder, Colorado, the company is online at: www.placeiq.com .