Growth Capital Ventures has led a £150,000 seed investment round into n-gage.io, a software platform targeting audience engagement on mobile devices.

The funds will be used to drive the development of the technology forward and support n-gage.io’s market entry strategy. The funds are in addition to £150,000 worth of resource provided by Growth Capital Ventures through its GCV Labs venture builder division.

N-gage.io aims to transform audience experiences through a customisable, data insight driven Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform with an integrated mobile-web application. This will look to help operators deepen their audience and visitor engagement.

A key target for n-gage will be integrating mobile experiences with physical visitor attractions, over which there are over 5,500 in England alone. 

The County Durham-based business has already begun work with a range of pilot customers across both the attraction and sport sectors, including Northumberland Zoo.

Norm Peterson, co-founder and chief executive of Growth Capital Ventures, said: “n-gage.io will give attraction and venue operators at all levels the ability to affordably embrace the power of technology to improve audience engagement both before, during and after a visit, with real-time evaluation tools to gain valuable insights.

 “This has been a great opportunity to invest at an early stage into a highly scalable business focussd on innovation in digital media and mobile technology. This initial investment will accelerate the development of the technology and allow the company to scale up the team to drive the business forwards.”

N-gage.io’s founder and chief executive Bryan Hoare said: “Mobile optimised experiences strive to increase engagement, yet many are still lacking innovation in technology and content delivery, failing to meet audience expectations. Covid-19 has highlighted the importance of technology more than ever; showing how important it is to maintain links with your audience when business is disrupted.”