Date: Feb 20, 2014 Source: bizjournals (
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Other than Mark Zuckerberg, it appears Boston startup Jana has been among those paying the closest attention to WhatsApp. Jana offers a mobile airtime rewards service in emerging markets, and also researches mobile device habits in those markets. The startup's findings help explain the audacious move by Facebook to acquire messaging app WhatsApp for up to $19 billion.
"In a number of key countries, WhatsApp trounces Facebook's messaging service in popularity, according to new survey data from Jana Mobile," tech blog The Information reported. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed by Jana in India said they used WhatsApp the most among mobile apps; less than 1 percent said Facebook was their primary app. And it was a similar story in Brazil (63 percent favored WhatsApp versus 5.6 percent for Facebook) and Mexico (76 percent versus 5 percent). "It's probably that gap, more than the impressive 450 million monthly active users that WhatsApp boasts, that made Facebook — and earlier, some of it competitors — keen to acquire fast-growing service," The Information wrote. Jana also posted a blog saying WhatsApp "might well be" worth the amount Facebook is paying for it, based on Jana's research in emerging markets. "Respondents in every market frequently referred to the established popularity of WhatsApp, as well as its simplicity and usability," the company wrote in the blog.
Jana's unique position:
It appears Jana has been uniquely positioned to understand the threat (and opportunity) that WhatsApp has posed to Facebook. Jana's service allows consumers in emerging markets to earn mobile airtime by responding to promotions or surveys from major brands. The company partners with 237 mobile operators that have a reach of 3.48 billion emerging-market consumers. Clients include Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, CNN and Google.
Jana, whose CEO and co-founder is Nathan Eagle, last year described its service this way to the BBJ: "Our mission is to redirect the world's advertising dollars to airtime. Currently, emerging market consumers spend ten percent of their daily wage on mobile airtime. If we can redirect half of the $200 billion spent on advertising in the developing world into the pockets of the consumers our clients are trying to reach, it would provide one billion people with the equivalent of a 5 percent raise. Ultimately, we facilitate more effective advertising, better insights, and more disposable income in the pockets of consumers. That's a win for commerce in every direction."
Founded in 2009 and based in the Back Bay, the startup has raised $25 million funding from investors including Spark Capital of Boston and French communications giant Publicis Groupe.
