Gauge Mobile, a Vancouver startup that has developed near-field communication applications for marketing, has been acquired by another Canadian startup – Juice Mobile.
Juice Mobile is a Toronto-based mobile marketing company. Gauge Mobile's expertise is in QR code and near-field communication.
Near-field communication is now built into many smartphones. It allows data to be transferred short distances and can be used in smartphones to allow wave-and-pay transactions, like making a payment by credit card or receiving in-store advertising.
As part of the acquisition, Gauge co-founder and CEO Anton Vassiliev, will join Juice Mobile. The other two co-founders will be moving on to others ventures, Vassiliev told Business in Vancouver.
"I'll be moving to Toronto and my title's going to be director of sales in proximity," he said.
Gauge Mobile is one of Wavefront's most recent success stories. It was among the startups admitted to Wavefront's accelerator program in 2011.
"The Wavefront accelerator marked our induction into entrepreneurship," Vassiliev said.
"Through their various programs, we learned a great deal about the tech startup ecosystem. We were also fortunate to get connected with amazing mentors through the (BC Innovation Council) market validation program, which was introduced to us and sponsored by Wavefront."
"We are pleased to see Gauge Mobile, a graduate of our Wavefront accelerator program, announce their acquisition by a Canadian marketing firm today," said Wavefront CEO James Maynard.
"The work that the Gauge team did through our program and the mentorship that they received helped them achieve market validation and move quickly to a great outcome."
