Follow the Yillio brick road to success? That could be the path to winning business for a new Raleigh company. 

Yillio, a brand new startup in Raleigh that has already patented route-based technology to take location-based services into a new dimension of benefits for users and advertisers, is kicking off in a major way today. The company’s first deal is to help promote Super Bowl XLVIII with the Greater Newark Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“This is route-based as opposed to location-based service,” says founder and Chief Executive Officer Reid Overcash.

“Imagine you are driving from Raleigh to Greensboro and you just have to have your latte and you are using Mapquest. Mapquest will show you Starbucks with a 3- or 4-mile range of where you are going, but our technology shows you the route to get there.

“Plus you also can narrow down your choices. If you don’t want to deviate very far from your route, or you are willing to do so to get that latte, our service helps you get there.”

How will Yillio make money?

Selling ads at the end of those yellow-brick roads …

Overcash says the company has “really ramped up” over the past six months and has three employees. But he and and his partners have been working on the underlining technology for some 18 months.

While having raised some “seed” funding to date, including money from his own pockets, Overcash says Yillio is looking at raising an institutional round of some $3 million early next year.

Yillio landed a high-profile partner to launch its service in New Jersey, where today’s kickoff was announced at 8 a.m., through mutual contacts, Overcash says.

And what better way for a startup to generate publicity than helping promote the world’s biggest sporting event?

Today’s Launch

Here’s the announcement being made today in Newark:

The Greater Newark Convention & Visitors Bureau has partnered with Raleigh, NC based YILLIO, Inc. to utilize its technology to help connect visitors and residents with merchants in advance of Super Bowl XLVIII.

“The GNCVB is thrilled to be able to help visitors explore, discover and save along their chosen route through YILLIO’s patented technology.” Michael Davidson, Executive Director of the GNCVB remarked, “Newark has a long history of innovators and our partnership with YILLIO honors Newark’s legacy of delivering cutting edge technology to the region.”

Using a mobile device with the YILLIO app, YILLIO helps consumers connect to merchants, and find events and activities along their route. Merchants sign-up to participate without cost and can create an advertising message to share real-time money saving promotions, specials, coupons, gas prices and fun events.

YILLIO’s GPS route planning and merchant reported promotions allow consumers to search and plan where they want to stop in between the beginning and end of their destination. Underlying YILLIO is a sophisticated patented route-based network that uses location, navigation and a variety of contextual inputs to match mobile consumers with relevant places, offers and discounts.

“We are delighted to be a part of this opportunity to introduce YILLIO technology to the people of the Greater Newark area and their guests during the weeks prior and after the Super Bowl,” stated Reid Overcash, CEO of YILLIO. “People will be able to search ahead based on their interests and instantly find it on their smart phones as they travel throughout the area.”

The Secret Sauce

The patent (which is No. 8,285,696 FYI) covers:

• Advertisement along the route (self-reported/merchant-reported information along a planned or conceived route via a GPS)
• Route-based advertising on any route on any platform
• Mobile phones, tablets, browser, telematics
• Multiple listings of businesses along the route
• Pricing-per-click is based on proximity to the user’s planned route
• Bid to be displayed along actual user’s mapped route
• Self-reported merchant provided pricing, such as fuel prices
• User’s ability to specify which businesses to display based on the radius distance from the route
• User’s ability to specify which businesses to display based on the type of business
• User’s ability to specify which businesses to display based on the rating of business