Remarkably, Apptera has brought together the $10B market in keyword advertising that Google is famous for with the $8B market for paid Directory Assistance (DA) that the phone companies have been providing for years. This combination is brand new, with some early wins and is headed for huge success as consumers are more mobile.

A “411” call brings usually costs about $1.50, although a few start-ups have recently started offering the same information for free. Apptera’s technology enables portals, enterprises or carriers, such as AT&T, to provide their own ad-supported DA service.

For example, a caller decides to save $1.50 and dials AT&T’s 1-800-YellowPages, instead of 411, to get the number for Joe’s Plumbing. As usual, the operator asks, “What City? What Listing?” but before getting the phone number, the caller might hear the following ad, “Harry’s Plumbing is an expert at emergency repairs. We can usually have a plumber to your house in less than twenty minutes. Switch to Harry’s Plumbing to get $10 off today’s service charge.” The user then has the option to stay with their original request or switch to the advertiser.

Another example of an Apptera revenue-generating solution is with a retailer, such as a supermarket. Imagine a mom calling the local market to order cupcakes for her son’s birthday party. After pressing “2” for the “Bakery,” she hears, “While waiting for an attendant to answer your call, you can listen to music by pressing 1 or wait on the line to hear specials relating to our bakery department. You won’t lose your place in line.” The Apptera-powered system can then play ads for milk, other baked goods, or even party supplies.

Marketta Silvera

• Founded the first network-based internet security company, Pilot Network Services
• Took Pilot Network Services public and built it to a $1 billon market cap
• Early in her career was the President/COO of VoiceCom Systems and Votan

Primary venture backers are Lightspeed Venture Partners, Walden International and Alloy Ventures.

The average MobileAd Technology sales cycle ranges between 3 to 5 months.  Customers usually pay a license fee and share a portion of the revenue generated by the Apptera software.

Apptera targets directory assistance service providers, carriers, portals, advertisers, marketers and any business with a high volume of incoming or outbound calls. Through its partner VoltDelta, Apptera has secured AT&T as the flagship client for its solution.

Apptera has also sold its v-Business solutions (e-Business over the phone) to 30 plus clients including Bank of America, GSI Commerce, Astral Brands, KeyBank, CO-OP Network, and Tele-Direct Call Centers. These clients could provide a fertile ground for Apptera’s new MobileAd Technology solutions.

Jingle Networks offers its own 1-800-FREE411 service, but does not sell its technology to others.

Ingenio provides solutions for connecting online consumers with businesses by phone, mainly on the web. Ingenio’s primary business model is aggregating ads rather than providing the technology for ad management and serving.

Minimum - College degree, plus:

• 8 years sales experience in complex, multiple buyer sales roles. CRM, advertising, Internet and/or IVR background a plus.
• Must be comfortable in a start up environment. Skilled at developing business opportunities with business side, marketing, customer service etc.
• Must be “connected” and enjoy creatively hunting for deals
• Characteristics – creative, able to build and manage a territory from start-up phase.