Zeotap , a startup that helps telecom companies sell their data to advertisers, announced today that it has raised \u20ac12 million in Series B funding (that\u2019s just under $13 million).
Co-founder and Chief Product Officer Projjol Banerjea told me that while there\u2019s \u201cdecent data\u201d available for online advertisers targeting desktop users, things are shakier on the mobile side: \u201cThe majority of data available in the market tends to be fairly poor quality.\u201d
Specifically, he said the available data tends to be less reliable because it\u2019s based on \u201cprobabilistic modeling.\u201d By using data from the telcos, Banerjea said Zeotap has a wider range of data \u2014 including demographics, location and purchase intent \u2014 that\u2019s also more reliable because it\u2019s deterministic (which usually means it\u2019s provided by the users themselves ).
And while Zeotap started out by working with telcos, Banerjea said other companies (including, according to the funding announcement, \u201ca leading security company\u201d and \u201ca top navigation services provider\u201d) have also approached his team about selling their data.
As for privacy, Zeotap says it does not include any personally identifiable information. Banerjea also said that one of the key elements of the company\u2019s strategy is the fact that it prevents advertisers from storing data with persistent identifiers.
One of Zeotap\u2019s strategic investors, Xaxis co-founder Mark Grether, said via email that one of the core principles in advertising is to \u201cnever share data directly.\u201d
\u201cThe moment it is out in the market, it is uncontrollable and it loses its value,\u201d Grether said. \u201cWhen I got to know zeotap I re-discovered exactly this principle and realized the company was in a great position to gather the highest-quality data sources and monetize them across the ecosystem. Not only have they figured out smartly the data security and privacy parts of the equation, they also have a neutral position in the market and can offer the data securely to anyone who wants to leverage it.\u201d<\/p>\n