Mobile marketing platform Placecast has raised an additional $3 million in venture funding from existing investors Quatrex Capital, ONSET Ventures and Voyager Capital. The new financing will be used
to expand Placecast's flagship ShopAlerts technology for presenting consumers with special deals via cell phone.
The solution allows retailers to create "geo-fences," or virtual boundaries
around their locations that trigger opt-in mobile messages when consumers go near them. Alerts can be sent in-store, online, via text-message, mobile site, or social networks like Facebook on any type
of cell phone. To avoid annoying users, the service will send a maximum of three messages from a given retailer each week.
The North Face, SONIC Drive-in and American Eagle are among major brands
that have begun using ShopAlerts. Placecast's latest funding brings the total raised by San Francisco-based company to $8 million. --Mark Walsh