Accelerate Fund Details Investment Into Visio Media

Visio Media is giving new meaning to the term “elevator pitch.”

Accelerate Fund II has announced its new investment into Visio Media. The Accelerate Fund II totals $10 million and is typically co-invested into companies alongside private investors in quantities up to $500,000. The fund is managed by Yaletown Partners with the support of A100.

Visio Media is a technology company that equips advertisers to gauge consumer interest and test how far an ad reaches in real time with unique audiences. Visio’s network currently broadcasts to 200 elevators in downtown high-rises across Edmonton and Vancouver, and the new funding will help the company expand into new markets across Canada.

The Edmonton-based Visio delivers ads through monitors embedded with audience engagement software called Elev8. Elev8 will run an ad based on all kinds of different factors, including weather, time of day, and even concurrently running sporting events.

Elev8 can anonymously detect if a group of seniors has entered an elevator then run an affiliated ad regarding retirement plans. If the next group that enters is one of young men, an ad for an Edmonton Oilers-themed night out may run. Visio partners with other companies like Skip the Dishes, The Brick and more.

“In the online advertising world advertisers have an appetite to tailor their ads for a specific audience and to learn everything about viewer’s behaviour,” said Nate Glubish, investment manager for Accelerate Fund II. “Visio Media makes this possible beyond web browsers and mobile apps. Visio’s Elev8 technology serves up relevant ads to an ever-changing audience, and delivers deep analytics, allowing advertisers to optimize content and validate engagement.”

Personalized ads are a hot trend when it comes to the current marketing landscape, and Visio allows clients to view how much a particular ad worked to engage different audiences and for long they stayed engaged.

“We look forward to rapidly expanding Elev8’s reach into the Toronto market and other important urban hubs across Canada,” said Fouad El-Masri, CEO of Visio Media.

Earlier this year, Accelerate Fund II invested in the Calgary-based Passportal, a security innovator for IT service providers.