AREA360 Lands $3.5M to Bring Location-Based Apps to Museums, Airports

A Seattle company, by way of New Zealand, has raised $3.5 million to advance technology that helps managers of places like the Smithsonian museum and Sea-Tac Airport create location-based content and services for visitors.

Madrona Venture Group is leading the Series A round for AREA360, whose product, STQRY, is designed for large, high-traffic locales that are increasingly outfitted with beacons, WiFi networks, and other sensors and technologies that can pinpoint individual mobile devices. The app allows site managers, even those without technical backgrounds, to use visitor location data to provide things like turn-by-turn directions through an airport or a video to explain a museum exhibit.

AREA360 says most mobile location technology is aimed at retail stores, while its focus is museums, airports, and other venues that can enhance their visitors’ experiences via location-aware mobile apps.

Founded in 2012 in Wellington, New Zealand, by CEO Chris Smith, AREA360 recently relocated its headquarters to Seattle. It has 10 employees here and 20 in New Zealand.

Smith.
Smith.

The company has raised a total of $3.9 million, including this Series A.

AREA360 says it has more than 400 customers, including Emirates Airlines, The Getty Museum, and Denver International airport.

 

Author: Benjamin Romano

Benjamin is the former Editor of Xconomy Seattle. He has covered the intersections of business, technology and the environment in the Pacific Northwest and beyond for more than a decade. At The Seattle Times he was the lead beat reporter covering Microsoft during Bill Gates’ transition from business to philanthropy. He also covered Seattle venture capital and biotech. Most recently, Benjamin followed the technology, finance and policies driving renewable energy development in the Western US for Recharge, a global trade publication. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.