PayPal and Dunnhumby invest $1.2m in Pulsate

Pulsate, an innovative mobile marketing company founded by Dublin man Patrick Leddy, has secured funding from one of the giants of the global tech scene as part of a funding round led by Delta Partner’s Bank and Enterprise Ireland.

Payments heavyweight PayPal along with US investment fund Dunnhumby Ventures have invested $1.2m (€1.06m) in the start-up.

The end-to-end context marketing platform for mobile seeks to drive new revenue for brands by changing the way they interact with customers and gaining a better understanding of their behaviours.

The innovative technology utilises in-app behaviours, geofences and beacons to trigger content delivery at the right place and time.

Pulsate chief executive Patrick Leddy, commenting on the funding, said he was particularly pleased to be working with investors the calibre of which have chosen to invest in the company.

“We are delighted to receive this $1.2m in funding from such high-profile investors. We will use the funds to accelerate the development of our product and to increase our business in the US.

“We are already attracting a lot of customers in this space and with this support we look forward to becoming the industry leader in context marketing,” Mr Leddy said.

Easily integrated with new or existing apps, Pulsate provides live audience segmentation alongside an intuitive campaign builder to deliver engaging customer experiences. App users are encouraged to reply, forming a direct dialogue between the brand and the customer.

Pulsate, with offices in Dublin, London, and San Francisco, has quickly established itself as one of the most exciting businesses in the growing sphere of context marketing which essentially is a strand of marketing which provides more personalised and relevant marketing content to customers.

The investment of Boston-based Dunnhumby Ventures — the seed-stage investment fund established by retail analytics leader Dunnhumby — is another significant show of confidence in Mr Leddy’s product.

PayPal’s support, meanwhile, is likely to open a number of doors for the marketing company given its global recognition alone.