#StartUpSpotlight: AdSnap

What’s the elevator pitch?

We provide brands and advertising agencies with the technology to measure the effectiveness of their offline advertising.

Why we should keep an eye on it

As of yet, this is a relatively undiscovered and lucrative market – data has recently been described by the FT as a more valuable commodity than oil. Measurement of real-world advertising effectiveness has been a problem for companies for thousands of years.

We use proprietary innovative image recognition technology and machine learning algorithms, and we have an international team based around Europe, which makes for an interesting and alternative working dynamic.

The story and the people behind the startup

The idea for AdSnap was born from wanting to create a platform that would allow brands to effectively measure their ROI for real-world advertising. Online advertising is fairly advanced and its ROI can be effectively measured, but for offline or real-world advertising it isn’t such a precise art. In 2016, I took the idea to one of my friends and asked him if he would do me the honour of building it with me.

Nine months on we have a technical co-founder and an extended team that we’re able to call on during development sprints. We’re currently pushing on through our beta and testing phases, and partnering with small festivals in order to trial our application.  

The team behind AdSnap comprises me, a student at the University of Kent with a background in public relations and marketing; Jamie Benaron, a British management consultant specialising in technology strategy; and Kwame Ofori, a German student and semi-professional American football player.

Have you managed to get funding? How?

We haven’t tried to get funding yet, and may not try to get funding at all. Our current business plan doesn’t require it. We will continue to make our own personal investments, and bootstrap until we are profitable.

What happens next? What’s the long-term ambition?

We are currently in a beta testing phase, working with small festivals and events to trial our application with users and customers.

We will look to launch the application fully in the lead up to Christmas, with the aim to provide companies with the technology to marry their online and offline advertising, engage more effectively with the brand, and ultimately allow them to calculate their ROI for real-world advertising.

Ultimately our ambition is to become the global default platform on which all real-world advertising is bought and sold.

StartUp Spotlight is a monthly column where LSBF speaks with the leaders of young start-ups and businesses to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.