JiWire secures funds for Wi-Fi ad network

Wi-Fi advertising provider JiWire, secures $11 million in funding and plans to expand services

JiWire, a Wi-Fi advertising provider, has raised $11 million in Series B funding.  This round is led by Panorama Capital and joined by Comcast Interactive Capital and existing investor DFJ Frontier.  

San Francisco, Ca., based JiWire, delivers advertising at WiFi access points, commonly known as "hotspots."  Currently, the company can reach 20 million unique users a month across 25,000 locations including airports, hotels, cafes, cruise ships, city centers and airplanes.  These users are exposed to the ads on their laptops and smartphones when accessing login screens to join Wi-Fi networks.  Some of JiWire's venues include SFO, LAX and JFK airports, the Hyatt, Westin and Marriot hotels, and Starbucks and Tully's cafe's.

JiWire is targeting traveling business people.  It explains its advertising reach is, "a new opportunity for marketers to serve ads to people using their laptops and smart phones on the go and reach an affluent, technology-savvy audience in popular locations."

Although this may be great to reach those people who are still willing to pay for Wi-Fi access, smartphones can access the Internet without a Wi-Fi connection, simply by connecting to 3G networks through their paid cellular data plans.  

JiWire explains that, "In 2008, 387 million new Wi-Fi devices shipped, including 56 million cellular devices and 71 million portable consumer electronic devices. Also in 2008, large U.S. carriers adopted Wi-Fi as a primary way to allow their customers to connect to the mobile web," which came from a report conducted by In-Stat.  

With Wi-Fi's limited range, and the rise of faster cellular data networks like 3G and upcoming 4G networks, JiWire's business could be affected.   

Some of JiWire's current clients include Microsoft, Sony, Charles Schwab and Southwest Airlines.  JiWire plans to use this investment to build more opportunities to reach the rapidly expanding mobile audience.  Perhaps it will be looking into 4G and WiMax.