!Waytag pursues growth
South African start-up !Waytag, a member of the MIP Holdings group of companies, is pursuing outside investment in order to capitalise on growing market opportunities. A frontrunner in the burgeoning geolocation application space, !Waytag converts geolocation co-ordinates into an easy-to-use and -understand tag.
"Typing a five-line address into a smartphone or a navigation device, or trying to remember complex GPS co-ordinates, is not easy. We wanted to make it easier for people to interact with location by creating a solution that would allow people and businesses to link their locations to their own unique name and to enable navigation to that name across a range of devices, platforms and solutions," explains Richard Firth, CEO of MIP Holdings. "Instead of using the traditional long-winded physical address details of a location, !Waytag takes the co-ordinates and turns them into a tag named plainly in a few words. Because !Waytag users create a free address that they can name, update and manage, they can link these to themselves or other individuals, or a set location, and can update it on the move."
The demand for the technology is enormous, given the massive growth of Internet-connected and GPS-enabled devices worldwide. With 260 million smartphones in the 20 countries with the biggest smartphone penetration alone, consumers are increasingly demanding simple and practical communication, navigation and social solutions.
!Waytag is working with strategic partners to provide the benefits of the technology across the globe. After successfully securing a content and mapping agreement with TomTom, !Waytag's database currently includes content for more than 21.5 million businesses in 106 countries. The company's current drive for new funding will enable it to expand the services and features it offers its rapidly growing user base.
"!Waytag has already proven that it can exponentially grow its community in a short period of time, with a minimum outlay on marketing. We're confident that the !Waytag team has both the passion and experience needed to continue to propel it into a leadership role in the geolocation application market. New financing will enable us to strengthen and expand our infrastructure to support the innovations and features demanded by our rapidly growing membership," says Firth.
MIP Holdings
MIP Holdings
MIP Holdings is one of the world's leaders in the provision of 'risk-based' billing services to mainly, but not exclusively, the financial services industry. The company designs and develops software solutions that focus on the collection of contributions and payment of benefits in the healthcare, employee benefits and life assurance sectors, as well as in personal finance, integrated lending systems and treasury.
With a focus on meeting client-specific requirements and through extensive investment in technology, MIP 'future proofs' its solutions. Strict adherence to industry standards, as well as stringent internal control over standards and quality assurance, ensure the systems MIP develops meet all client expectations.
Expanding into the telecoms sector through its purchase of Itemate, MIP Holdings provides telecoms operations and management solutions to communications service providers worldwide. The company's specific skills in the area of mobile prepaid value chains, prepaid product life cycle management analysis, voucher management systems and mobile financial services enable it to provide an end-to-end service. Its most recent acquisition, Waytag, further enhanced the company's ability to provide a comprehensive solution to its clients through the unique Waytag offering of location-based services.
MIP Holdings was founded in 1989 and is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, with additional offices in Cape Town and Pretoria.