14 DAY TRIAL // Mobile phone maker Motorola announced today that it has made an investment in Scanbuy, Inc., a leader in mobile barcode solutions. According to the company, its strategic investment arm, Motorola Ventures, was the main investor in Scanbuy, and was joined by Masthead Venture Partners, Hudson Ventures and other private investors. However, the company hasn't disclosed the financial terms of the investment.
The “ScanLife” platform from Scanbuy is a solution that offers a simple solution for advertisers to deliver digital information to consumers via the use of barcodes and camera phones. Businesses can place one- or two-dimensional barcodes on products, in magazine ads and other media, while consumers will receive product reviews, price comparisons and coupon offers when scanning the barcode. At the same time, users can also go to a website, view a video or share info with friends through a single click.
“Motorola has looked at this market very carefully and believes that Scanbuy has the best combination of technology and strong ecosystem partners in its space,” said Reese Schroeder, managing director of Motorola Ventures. “Mobile barcodes are an extremely powerful tool for consumers, businesses and wireless providers, which makes this opportunity very exciting for Motorola. The camera quality, display capability and processing power of today’s smartphones, coupled with advanced network speeds, now enable consumers and the advertising community to fully take advantage of mobile barcode technology.”
Businesses have at their disposal the ScanLife Code Management Platform, which enables them to track and analyze data like scan locations or quantities, so that they can understand the consumer habits better. ScanLife is already present on a wide range of mobile phones all around the world, including those powered by Android, BlackBerry OS, iPhone OS, Java and Symbian, Scanbuy notes.
“We have spent the last couple of years securing partnerships with leaders in the wireless ecosystem that now will set the stage for the expansion of mobile barcode technology around the world,” said Jonathan Bulkeley, chief executive officer of Scanbuy. “We are thrilled to have a strategic investor like Motorola involved at this next stage of development. Their expertise and resources will contribute to mass adoption of this great technology.”