Route travel app Yillio adds Spanish in expansion (+ video)

Yillio, the startup targeting event-focused advertising with its patented travel app technology, is adding Spanish to its capabilities.

The Raleigh-based entrepreneurial company already owns three patents and is looking to work with events and festivals who hope to secure more dollars from visitors that use the app for trip planning. Yillio has worked with one Super Bowl as well as US Golf Opens in Pinehurst. Its app, which is a free download, “geo-fences” venues for promotion with information about points of interests and vendors (restaurants, gas stations) that match users’ needs.

The Skinny talked with Yillio co-founder and CEO Reid Overcash about the expansion targeting Hispanics and how the company is developing.

What about this tech excites you most about the future?

It seems like three years ago when we started talking about this many people either didn’t get it or didn’t understand the concept of route-based mapping and finding points of interest.

The market seems to have grown to us. Finding personalized points of interest rather than what others might present to you is a hot topic now.

Plus the whole Hispanic opportunity is a really big deal.

Why pick Hispanic audience for the expansion?

The Hispanic audience is the largest user of mobile devices of any demographic group yet they have been totally underserved by mobile app developers. It is also a growing and dynamic culture.

How difficult and complex was the process adding Spanish to the data base for the apps?

Some of it was going through the process of making the decision. Then finding the resources.

We have had a Hispanic advisor to our board who has been very helpful along the way.

Please explain the “geo-fencing” tech – does this screen out non-sponsors/non-participants?

This doesn’t screen anyone out. Like the Super bowl and the US Golf Opens that you reported on [earlier] it provides a promotion for the event on the opening of the app within a designated area, like a 100 mile radius or the entire state.

How many customers do you have now?

The app is free to download. We have spent the last couple of years investing in getting the technology right and making it a seamless user experience.

We are looking to partner with other large organizations who have customers/viewers/listeners/users where our technology could easily integrate with their business strategies to create a large revenue base from the advertising along the route.

How are you financed? Are you raising any funding now?

Although we are always willing to talk with anyone about ongoing funding we have largely been funded by our current investors.

Are you hiring?

We are a small organization composed mostly of technical software developers. Once we identify the proper partner(s) the revenue model scales significantly.