iGuiders Receives Second JumpStart Investment
CLEVELAND, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- JumpStart Inc., the Northeast Ohio venture development organization that accelerates the progress of high growth early-stage businesses, announced an investment commitment of $200,000 in iGuiders, Inc. The Cleveland-based information technology company is developing a guided decision technology for the Internet that simplifies complicated searches through the use of question and answer logic. iGuiders has been a JumpStart Ventures portfolio company since it received an initial investment commitment of $275,000 from JumpStart in February of this year.
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iGuiders' patent-pending online decision technology helps people quickly identify what they want, leads them to the exact information they need, and helps them make decisions faster. By picking up where search engines such as Google and Yahoo! leave off, the company's Guiders(TM) complete a user's search and provide them with more personalized and specific results.
Online search results do not provide the 'thinking' assistance people need to make decisions, and do not intuitively drive visitors where they want to go. According to Informationweek.com, "Half of potential Web sales are lost because visitors simply can't find what they want." Online search is an independent activity, yet people still want expertise along the way to facilitate quick decision-making. Guiders enable experts to create a series of questions that lead specific customer segments to targeted information and help them decide the best solutions. Visitors can find Guiders through search engine results, on individual web sites or through accessing the Guider network. They can reside on any website or be linked together across the Internet. The technology tracks the path of visitors allowing for robust usage pattern data collection and analytics. Guiders help companies by increasing customer retention and shopping cart conversions, and decreasing bounce rates. Companies can also use Guiders to tailor personally relevant messages to different types of visitors.
JumpStart Venture Partner Mark Smith has been working Jodi Marchewitz, iGuiders' founder, since February and has seen the company make significant progress. "Since our first investment, Jodi has led the team to launch its portable Guider decision platform, file multiple provisional patents on its decision technology, and hire three new people including a Chief Technology Officer and both Marketing and Sales Directors. This additional investment commitment reflects JumpStart's continued commitment to iGuiders' business model and confidence in Jodi and her team," said Smith.
"The additional investment will be used for business development, marketing and revenue-generating activities, including pursuing large strategic partnerships," Marchewitz said. "We will also continue to optimize the Guider technology and focus on customer support initiatives."
This is JumpStart's 53rd investment in its 40th company. Other information technology business companies in JumpStart's portfolio include Ayalogic, Banyan Technology, BSKLive, InSeT Systems, Inspiron Logistics, Knotice, and PreEmptive Solutions.
About iGuiders, Inc.
iGuiders, Inc. (www.iguiders.com), is an information technology company whose proprietary decision technology, known as Guiders(TM), is the first Web-based means of guiding an Internet user through the 'thought process' of a decision. Using a guided decision platform composed of series of questions and answers created by subject matter experts, Guiders help people quickly identify what they want, lead them to the exact information they need online, and help them make decisions. Because of its pending patents, iGuiders is creating the industry standard for guided online search.
About JumpStart Inc.
JumpStart (www.jumpstartinc.org) is a nationally recognized venture development organization that accelerates the progress of high potential, early-stage businesses and includes a special focus on diverse entrepreneurs working in the highest growth industries. Through the depth of its entrepreneurial team and the breadth of its high value resources, JumpStart improves client success in achieving significant milestones, including raising the follow-on capital necessary to create wealth. JumpStart strives to create a more prosperous future for Northeast Ohio. As part of its robust public/private partnership model, JumpStart recognizes the integral support of Ohio Third Frontier, which catalyzes innovation that is transforming Ohio's economy for future generations by creating new technology-based products, companies, industries, and jobs.
SOURCE JumpStart Inc.