Ntag, a Boston company that makes interactive name badges for people to wear at conferences and other events so that they can interact socially with people with similar interests, has raised $8.3 million in a second round of funding.
A helpful demo on the company’s home page shows how it works (see “networking” chapter for basics). A conference attendee signs up online before an event, enters his occupation, experience and other interests. Ntag then provides him with a badge carrying this info, which interacts wirelessly with an Ntag server during the conference. The badge vibrates when the attendee comes into proximity of another attendee with similar interests (the attendee selects the sort of people he wants to meet beforehand). The attendee can also type info into the badge on a small keyboard — about a conversation with a cute sales representative he just met, for example — which is then recorded by Ntag’s servers, so that all the information is available online even after the attendee leaves the conference.
The company says it has conducted events for companies like IBM, Freescale, Pfizer, Alcatel-Lucent and General Electric.
A number of companies have rushed into this area, including Charmed Technology, of Los Angeles, Shockfish (maker of SpotMe), of Switzerland, and SmartBadge, of Laguna Hills, Calif.
Ntag is well-backed. It has raised a total of $23 million. Previous investors Sevin Rosen Funds and Pilot House Ventures provided the latest funding.
The company says the conference business is a $168 billion market.
8 Comments
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Vapid Valerie said:
$168 billion market? Could that possibly be right?
And, even if it is right, what portion of that is spent on nametags and personal networking devices?
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Matt Marshall said:
I did a double-take on that too. The company just said “market” and did not specify. I’ll see if they have anything more on that…
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A. Smith said:
This is a great example of a solution looking for a problem.
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Matt Marshall said:
Here’s more, straight from a company representative, to explain what is meant by the $168 billion number:
“The entire event market — trade shows, association meetings, corporate events makes up $168 B. The numbers come from a study called Futurewatch, funded by American Express and MPI — the Meeting Planners International association.
nTAGs are typically used by events with 50 people and up so the market for badges is considerably smaller and hasn’t been delineated. In theory, any business that has a meeting — of any type — with at least 50 people is a target for nTAGs. I wish I could give you #s, but IDC and Dataquest don’t cover this end of the tech market so we rely on #s from the meeting planners.”
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Steve said:
This is stupid business idea. The investors, by definition, are morons.
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Brandon said:
WOW… A. Smith & Steve I agree. I looked at the vids on nTag’s site. How is this a sustainable business. How did they convince VC’s to give them funding.
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Jimmy Huen said:
Many years ago, I’ve read somewhere that in Japan , something similar has been used to bring together ordinary folks that want to get “Introduced”. A device will vibrate silently if you walk pass someone at the grocery isle or the train station for example, that have the right natch of pre-defined qualities.
I’ve always love that idea for Joe Schmoe on the street.
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James said:
Jimmy,
The Japanese device you were referring to, was called the “Lovegety” circa 1998.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovegetty
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/1998/06/12899
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9806/07/fringe/japan.lovegety/
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American Express Company said:
Thanks for the info about Ntag raises $8.3M more for event social networking!
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