TeleNav, a Nasdaq-listed GPS systems company, has acquired ThinkNear, a corporate venturing-backed US-based mobile voucher company, for $22.5m, including about $18.5m in cash.
In July last year, US-based search engine Google and US-based technology company Qualcomm’s corporate venturing units helped ThinkNear raise $1.6m in seed financing.
Google Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures were joined by venture capital firms IA Ventures, Metamorphic Ventures, Real Ventures, ff Venture Capital, Zelkova Ventures, BoldStart VC and angel investors including David Tisch and David Cohen of TechStars, an investment club.
ThinkNear provides a technology which determine slow times for businesses such as restaurants allowing them to offer variable discounts through the mobile phones of customers.
TeleNav said the acquisition added ThinkNear’s team of 12 employees, including its two co-founders.
Telenav will combine ThinkNear’s targeting technology with the existing Telenav Drive-To Advertising service to create a mobile local advertising platform called Scout Advertising.