GLOBAL – FRANCE, JULY 17, 2013 – Publicis Groupe has made its first direct investment in mobile technology with a $15-million strategic investment in Jana Mobile, a global company that rewards consumer action in rising markets like Brazil, India, Indonesia and Nigeria.
Key persons in Publicis Groupe will join Jana Mobile as part of the investment. Publicis Groupe chairman and chief executive officer Maurice Lévy and ViVaki chief strategy and innovation officer Rishad Tobaccowala are stepping in as members of Jana’s board of directors and board of advisors, respectively.
“I have been personally attracted and convinced to invest directly in this platform as I see it as the next big thing in the communication industry. Consumers in these dynamic markets are spending 10 percent of their daily income on mobile airtime, while global advertisers are spending more than $150 billion to reach them through traditional advertising channels,” said Lévy.
Boston-based Jana has built the world’s largest rewards platform in emerging markets where mobile airtime is often viewed as equivalent to cash. The mobile company had integrated 237 mobile operators billing systems in 102 countries. With this, it can instantly reward 3.48 billion market consumers with prepaid airtime in local currency. Jana’s airtime platform rewards include consumer actions trial (registration, app downloads), engagement (watching a video), advocacy (referring a friend), and product purchase (airtime rebates). With every action that it compensates, Jana delivers rich consumer insights to participating marketers. Many global corporations are already using Jana to understand, acquire, and retain emerging market consumers.
Lévy added, “With its platform, Jana is changing the face of advertising by enabling us to invest in targeted, mobile-based campaigns that put advertising dollars directly into the pockets of the ‘next billion’ consumers our clients are most eager to reach. As a result, brands become more valuable to people, and people become more economically empowered. I am confident that Jana will help consumers in those markets to have a better life.”
mCent, Jana’s consumer-facing platform can also enable clients to target offers to Jana members. In exchange for participating in an offer, such as filling out a survey or purchasing a product, members are rewarded with mobile airtime. Over the past six months, mCent membership swelled into more than 6 million opt-in members registered and over a million new emerging market consumers joining every month.
“Our self-serve product, launching today, enables anyone to send airtime in over 70 currencies to billions of emerging market consumers,” said Nathan Eagle, co-founder and CEO of Jana. “Our partnership with Publicis Groupe brings value that goes far beyond a financial investment. Their vision, advertising expertise and client relationships will undoubtedly create even more opportunities for our members to earn airtime through our platform.”
As a new member of Jana’s board of advisors, Tobaccowala leads the Ventures practice that will organize the introduction of Jana across all Publicis Groupe agencies to drive adoption and scale.
“As a digital accelerator for Publicis Groupe, VivaKi comes in contact with many pioneering companies that empower us to move faster into key markets and develop new products with unparalleled efficiency,” he said. “The Jana relationship will help us disrupt traditional ad models and connect our clients to the world’s fastest growing populations where mobile adoption is far outpacing other technologies.”
With Publicis Groupe’s strategic investment, Jana’s total capital raised to approximately $25 million from investors including Todd Dagres (Spark Capital), Rohini Chakravarty (NEA), Jon Miller (AOL / News Corp), Paul Sagan (Akamai) and Esther Dyson.
