VC view on Mobile Data Analytics

Over the past couple of years I have met with several startups that offer analytic solutions for mobile data. I have not invested in any of them. I had felt that the data captured from feature phones and early generations of smartphones was not rich enough to lead to interesting and distinct analytics. For example, while data captured from a mobile web browser such as sites visited, pageviews, time spent browsing could be analyzed, we didn't need a new company to do that. Omniture could do that just fine. However, the new smartphones capture more interesting data. These data sets could drive the creation of a new and interesting analytics. As a result, I am becoming interested in mobile data analytics and have been actively looking for investment opportunities in this sector.

The new smartphones are becoming sensor platforms, as well as being computing platforms. In addition to photo and video camera, touch screen, GPS and accelerometer, new types of sensors are being connected to smartphones. For example, Bling Nation has introduced a sensor that adheres to a smartphone and is linked to the user's PayPal account. Our own portfolio company Zeo has announced that it will connect its sensor to the iPhone in order to capture sleep-related data.

Some of the data sets generated by all these sensors that I find interesting include:
1. The time-series of GPS and accelerometer data for each subscriber. ...
2. Data generated from the use of augmented reality (AR) application can create new advertising opportunities ...
3. Configuration data on the complete software stack running on each phone (from firmware to operating system to application software). ...
4. Mobile payments data combined with geolocation data. ...

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