APPCityLife, Inc. Acquires OnQueue Technologies

Online, May 13, 2013 (Newswire.com) - APPCityLife, Inc., a New Mexico-based mobile technology firm focusing on the civic space and Open Data, has successfully acquired Onqueue Technologies, a venture-capital backed mobile technology group founded in 2008. The acquisition brings in-house a long-standing relationship between the two companies and adds three seasoned startup veterans to APPCityLife.

OnQueue Technologies was founded by Lawrence Abeyta, Bryan Bingham, and Scott Walker, who set out to address a need they saw coming in the mobile market for designing, deploying and managing multiple applications through cloud-based technologies. Before launching OnQueue, the team previously co-founded TekWorks which was acquired by Altiris, went through a successful IPO and acquired by Symantec. After launching OnQueue, the trio of engineers quickly raised investments from angel investors and venture capital firms in New Mexico and New York City to develop a complex, user-friendly mobile application publishing tool, Appliciti, drawing from their previous experiences of software enterprise solutions for major international corporations, including creating the prototype of Microsoft's back office product, SMS, for Steve Ballmer.

APPCityLife was founded in late 2009 by Lisa Abeyta, and APPCityLife became the initial client of Onqueue, using the Appliciti platform to publish city guide apps which focused on locally curated content and affordable mobile marketing options for small businesses. Named one of the top hottest mobile startups in 2010, Abeyta was invited to present her startup business to over 500 of the top movers and shakers in the mobile industry at MobileBeat in San Francisco, CA. As APPCityLife gained traction into the local market, many of the initial clients came from the civic space. The company pivoted in 2012 to address the growing demand for solutions surrounding Open Data initiatives. The company expects to launch geolocated coupons in their civic apps within the next few weeks with several additional products also in development. Current clients include the City of Albuquerque, the Mid-Region Council of Governments Rail Runner, Behavioral Health Research, Bendix King, as well as several others.

APPCityLife was the only woman-owned companies invited to participate in Albuquerque-based Technology Ventures Corporation's mentorship program. Abeyta recently presented to a crowd of about 300 investors and partners at the Deal Stream Summit.

"When I first started APPCityLife, I saw a real need for affordable mobile marketing options for local businesses," says Abeyta. "I've known the team at OnQueue for over 20 years. We've watched our kids grow up through several startups, so I have great confidence not only in their creative ability to invent whatever is needed to get the job done, but in their tenacity and commitment to deliver a finished product that is higher quality and easier to manage than anything else on the market."

Abeyta says the acquisition was something that was talked about for quite some time before a formal offer was made in late 2012. "For a couple of years now, I considered the possibility of becoming one company, but once APPCityLife gained traction in the civic space, it became very important to me to secure the technology and bring on co-founders who could take the technical challenges and run with them. I looked at several other options and companies, but, in the end, working with people I trust and respect and with a technology I'd already used and knew could deliver, won out over the other options." The company is currently raising a seed round of investment to continue building out the team to meet the growing need for solutions in the civic space.

"Open Data really caught hold a couple of years ago, and when Albuquerque joined the movement, several department directors approached APPCityLife about helping them harness the data they were developing in mobile applications that would serve their constituents," says Abeyta. "We have about 50,000 active users on our platform now, and we're still only serving our initial test market in Albuquerque."

The company recently inked agreements with several clients to begin serving up geolocated coupons in the civic apps. "We've found a really interesting flavor for serving up mobile marketing for local markets. Through our civic apps, whether we're talking transit, museums, libraries, parks, or events, we're able to serve up the ideal customer for local businesses. Who better to market to than the people who literally pass by your business every day? Through our patented technology, businesses can actually use their smart phone to create a coupon on the fly and serve it up into apps where they are an approved vendor. The power of that is significant. Now a restaurant owner can quickly send out a coupon to bus riders outside of her business on a slow night, and riders can view it immediately. We've stripped down mobile marketing so that business owners are back in control of their marketing. And the best part is that it also helps cities who are financially strapped. Because we are able to share our revenue for coupon served up in their apps, it becomes a way for them to defray the cost of creating and managing open data."

Abeyta says the company also has plans to develop an API and SDK to allow developers across the country to access the publishing platform, couponing tool and gamification elements. "The Public Art app we're currently developing for Albuquerque will be our flagship app for our CityLife® Points. CityLife will allow cities to engage the people who live there to do things that are good for that community without getting in the way of the activity. For example, the ABQArt app will feature scavenger hunts where people can check out certain art installations, give feedback through the app, and earn points for participating. Those points can add up to earn prizes like iPads, tickets to events. And, for the first time, public art will have hard analytics through our technology, that will help them not only with budget planning but in serving the needs of the public."

The Onqueue talent have come on board APPCityLife as co-founders. Scott Walker is serving at CTO Mobile, Lawrence Abeyta at COO, and Bryan Bingham as CTO Cloud. To accommodate the larger team, the company has also moved its offices to the LEED certified Hope Plaza in northeastern Albuquerque. "It's an excellent, open space, and we expect to host several community events here as well," says Abeyta. "We'd like to bring the strong bonds of the entreprenurial community that thrive in places like Boulder to our own city, and we're currently talking with several other groups on how to best achieve that here."