AirClic

Infobox Company
company_name = AirClic, Inc.
company_type = Private
foundation = 2000
location = Trevose, PA USA
homepage = [http://www.airclic.com/ www.airclic.com]

AirClic, Inc. is a web-based software and mobile information services company founded in 2000. AirClic offers fullyhosted solutions including a workflow-based mobile application framework. [Citation|last=Luna|first=Lynnette|title=The View From 30,000 Feet|periodical=Mobile Enterprise|date=April|year=2008|publisher=Edgell Communications]

History

AirClic was founded in 2000. The company has gone through several shifts in strategic direction. It originally planned to use its technology to enable consumers with specially equipped mobile phones and handheld devices to scan bar codes in print ads and posters to get information and make purchases. Its proprietary bar codes were called “Scanlets.”

In its early days, the company announced ambitious partnerships with a variety of companies. At one point Motorola, Symbol Technologies, Connect Things and AirClic announced they would invest $500 million “to form a new company that will drive e-commerce growth through one-scan access to the Internet.” [ [http://www.symbol.com/news/pressreleases/pr_motor.html Motorola, Symbol Technologies, Connect Things and AirClic Form New Company to Drive the Growth of E-Commerce Through One-scan Ac - Symbol Technologies ] ] A partnership with R.R. Donnelly & Sons, announced in June 2001, was to incorporate AirClic technology into phone books. [ [http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/marketing-advertising/6089674-1.html R.R. Donnelley Forms Interactive Media Partnership With AirClic; Agreement enables directory publishers to create interactive print advertisements. | Marketing & Advertising >... ] ] Another involving HometownGrocers.com (February 2002) would have let grocery store customers use personal scanners to create grocery lists and download nutritional information about food products. [ [http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=6102 InternetRetailer.com - Daily News for Wednesday, February 6, 2002 ] ]

After the Internet bubble burst the company regrouped, gradually shifting to its current focus on automating mobile and field processes for businesses. Its solutions still rely on bar codes and scanner-equipped mobile phones. Philadelphia Business Journal reports that "AirClic has grown its revenue tenfold over the past three years, from $1 million in 2004 to nearly $10 million last year [2007] ." [Philadelphia Business Journal, Friday, September 26, 2008.]

Funding

It is unclear how much funding privately-owned AirClic has received over the years, but news accounts and the company’s own communications would seem to put the figure at at least $322 million:
* March 2000 (1st round): $15 million from Blue Capital Management, Edgewater, private investors and Forrest, Binkley and Brown [ [http://www.wirelessweek.com/airclic-hits-funding-management.aspx AirClic Hits Funding, Management Jackpot ] ]
* January 2001 (2nd round): $290 million from a group of investors including Motorola, Ericsson Business Innovation AB, Symbol Technologies Inc., and a private investor group led by Goldman Sachs [ [http://www.diehardindian.com/news/2001Mar/06.htm News Updates - 6 March 2001 ] ]
* June 2005: $2 million, Zon Capital Partners [ [http://airclic.com/release6.asp AirClic Mobile Business Process Solutions: Press Release ] ]
* March 2006: $2.86 million, Motorola, Zon Capital Partners, and others [ [http://airclic.com/release18.asp AirClic Mobile Business Process Solutions: Press Release ] ]
* February 2007: $12.5 million, JMI Equity, Motorola, and Zon Capital Partners [ [http://airclic.com/release28.asp AirClic Mobile Business Process Solutions: Press Release ] ]

The company also announced an investment in November 2004 from Motorola and "several individual investors." [ [http://www.airclic.com/release4.asp AirClic Mobile Business Process Solutions: Press Release ] ] The amount was not disclosed.

Management

AirClic has had a series of management shakeups since its founding. In March 2000 it announced a “management coup” [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2000_March_13/ai_60066480 AirClic Unveils Revolutionary Technology And Announces Leadership Coup | Business Wire | Find Articles at BNET ] ] in the appointment of David Klatt as CEO and Patrick Robinson as CFO. Both were former Black & Decker Corp. executives. AirClic’s chairman at the time was co-founder Peter Ritz. In August the company announced “the appointment of a stellar management team”—nine people in all. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2000_August_2/ai_63814723 Following Its Partnership with Motorola, Symbol Technologies and Ericsson's Connect Things, AirClic Continues to Drive Mobile Commerce Industry | Business Wire | Find Articles... ] ]

Months later, Klatt was lured away to become president of Rubbermaid. "Wireless Week" announced AirClic had hit the “management jackpot” when former American Express CEO Harvey Golub was named chairman and Phillip Reise, the former president of the American Express consumer card services group, was named CEO. [AirClic Hits Funding, Management Jackpot,"Wireless Week," January, 2001]

Also in January 2001, Suren Gupta, an IT executive at GMAC Residential, was appointed head of global operation and information services. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2001_Jan_9/ai_68912202 GM Senior Executive to Head Operations and Information Services for AirClic | Business Wire | Find Articles at BNET ] ]

Today the board is chaired by Bob Hurst, former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs. Tim Bradley, a former sales executive with Cognos and Adaytum, was named CEO in March 2005 [ [http://airclic.com/release3.asp AirClic Mobile Business Process Solutions: Press Release ] ] . Several other Cognos and Adaytum alumni fill out the management and sales ranks.

Products

AirClic's customized product is called AirClic MP 5.

References

External links

* [http://www.airclic.com/ AirClic website]

Companies established in 2000