‘We Have Reached A Stage Where We Can’t Avoid Technology Any Longer’…
Aiisma, an India born data marketplace, rewards users for consensually and anonymously trading their data via the Aiisma App. The marketplaces’ location sharing and health mapping features can be used for effective contact tracing, which has been the strongest aid in fighting COVID-19 so far.
Thereon, the insights gathered by the Aiisma ecosystem naturally create a digital fence against the COVID-19 spread, supporting citizens and authorities in the fight against the virus.
Via the Aiisma mobile app users can consensually and anonymously trade their behavioural data for rewards and receive extra compensation for viewing ads on the marketplace. Businesses access this data through the Aiisma dashboard in a legal and economical format, to create relevant products and services offerings. Furthermore, the same channel can deliver highly targeted text, banner and video ads to increase marketing efficiency for businesses.
Ankit Chaudhari, Founder and CEO of Aiisma, tell us more about the app’s functioning.
How do you think the demand for data has been aggravating over the days?
The demand for data and the amount of data generated has increased manifold since the beginning of this century but specially over the last five years with the growing penetration of smart devices into user homes as well. This penetration has caused increasing need to capture, analyse and use the data so generated for better product development but above all to constantly improvise the targeted marketing programs. Recent valuations of companies like foursquare & attentive is a precursor to how valuable the behaviour & geo-location data mapping are becoming.
Are people increasingly aware about the usage of data?
Nowhere in the current ecosystem, is the user who generates the data compensated for creating the input for the next set of needs to be identified, created & marketed. There is an increasing awareness about the value of data and consumers are starting to demand the value for what they create. Aiisma is an attempt ahead of others using the data marketplace model in #mydatamyasset mission to pass the monetary value retained largely by big tech as of date, directly to the users & thereby change the business & consumer relationship from targeted to engaged marketing yielding better results.
What sector(s) does your technology primarily cater to? Is there an amalgamation involved?
Aiisma uses a combination of manual feed & automation to capture basic demographic information like name, gender, location, age etc smart device generated information like geo-location, screen time, browsing behaviour, etc. The helps create engaging geo-location & behaviour driven marketing engagement programs for businesses that the consumer falls in the catchment for. Our technology is primarily for SMB’s who face challenges reaching their customers in a more direct manner with the online marketplace models.
How reliable is technology? Are there compromises on privacy?
We have reached a stage where we cannot avoid technology no matter how hard we with every progressing day. There are risks like surveillance, privacy concerns etc which are discussed on a daily basis in different forums and entrepreneurs in tech are working toward solving them aggressively. The only habit that we probably need to evolve out of is our love for freemium as our privacy is a huge cost that we are paying under this pretext of freemium services.
What does your first formal round of investing look like?
My Co-Founder Nicholas Boehnlein & I bootstrapped Aiisma initially and then we received our first formal angel round of investment from Mr. Laxmi Narayanan Sridharan who is a UAE based businessman for USD 260,000 in 2019.
Are there any plans of going vernacular or spread the word across the developing countries?
Immediately, we have launched our application on Google play store and are in the process of completing work on the full app publish by the end of April which would include data sharing streams, wallets and an upgraded User Interface. Our focus unlike other startups is to capture the developing economies as they have the largest & youngest workforce and as such the consumers of tomorrow. By end of May our application will be available in 3 different languages namely English, Hindi & Arabic for a UAE launch as well. These are the two geographies where we have SMB interest at this stage and target to on-board 10,000 SMB’s this year as the economy recovers from Covid-19 impact.
Long terms we intend to be the platform of choice for users across the globe for data monetisation & for SMB’s as a medium to directly engage with their target consumers in a more efficient and economical manner. Going public is the exit strategy that we have in the plans for our investors.
Any takeaway for the wannabes?
These are tough times, especially since a recession was already looming on the horizon but the pandemic has pushed the world towards a long term depression in all likelihoods and the situation wouldn’t be easy for next 18-24 months. But every problem brings with it an opportunity and this one has opportunity in remote work, managed/automated logistics, anti-viral wearables, etc if you can capture relevant data and can work on it. So take the opportunities and work hard towards them in a nimble, humble & miser as cash will be the king to survive these days.
