From Bologna
to the US. A start-up located under the Two Towers that creates solutions based
on machine learning algorithms for mobile advertising. Mapendo profiles ads on
connected smartphones in over 100 countries worldwide using proprietary
artificial intelligence algorithms. For FARE INSIEME STARTUP, Giampaolo
Colletti interviews Lorenzo Viscanti, CEO of Mapendo
FARE
INSIEME STARTUP is the spin-off of the FARE INSIEME project dedicated to
presenting some businesses that form part of the Primo Ventures portfolio, a
company that manages funds specializing in the digital sector and new space
economy. Confindustria Emilia has started up a partnership with Primo Ventures
with the objective of providing its associates with new opportunities for
growth thanks to the presentation of the most innovative start-ups on the
market. Here are their stories.
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
“I visualize
a time when we will be to robots what dogs are to humans, and I'm rooting for
the machines.” Claude Shannon, a US engineer and mathematician, considered the
father of the theory of information, said this over thirty years ago. This
distant relative of Thomas Edison born in Petoskey, a small town in Michigan,
did not see the magnificent and progressive destiny artificial intelligence
would have lately, as he passed away just before 2000. Yet this phrase started
circulating once again in the community of Silicon Valley start-uppers and
innovators. Things, however, are not exactly so, as today the most discussed
technological topic, i.e. artificial intelligence, which is also discussed on
TV and in general newspapers, presents many opportunities.
Company
profile. A glass half full, filled with the skills of many start-ups. Among
them, there is one that is raising a lot of interest. It was set up in that
Bologna that has become an attractive hub for globetrotter innovators. Welcome to Mapendo, a start-up located under
the Two Towers that creates solutions based on machine learning algorithms for
mobile advertising. Thus artificial intelligence, or AI as we know it, has not
only transformed the technological world. It has also impacted marketing. Even
more, actually. It rewrote languages, relationships, processes. Mapendo
actually specialises in the management of user acquisition campaigns for iOS
and Android mobile applications. It analyses user activities on smartphones
and, with the information collected, it optimises the ads of its client
companies on the various devices. Every day, Mapendo profiles ads on connected
smartphones in over 100 countries worldwide using proprietary AI algorithms.
The objective is to increase e-commerce sales through advertising and reach
over 500 million people per month guaranteeing the maximum safety of the apps
promoted through the platform. An idea that was born as an evolution of many
others disseminated over the years by Lorenzo Viscanti, CEO of Mapendo, and by
his partner Marco Marchini. “This business of ours has inherited what we used to do in
the past, i.e. writing software for the online advertising sector. We studied
things and realised mobile advertising was booming, so the first prototype was
born inspired by what we had seen in the US,” recalls Viscanti, who managed to
convince important clients such as Spotify and Amazon to work with them. His is
an incredible story. He has been an entrepreneur since he was young as he grew
up in Bologna seeing his grandma make fresh pasta and keeping his company’s
accounts. In doing so, he understood that he would open up his own business one
day by rolling up his sleeves. After an e-mail sent to the technology guru
TechCrunch, he boarded a one-way flight to Paris where he participated in the
birth of the social media marketing start-up Wilio. Then he came back to Italy
to launch Mikamai, a tech consultancy company for the world of fashion. Then he
left this adventure too to build another one - Malpendo.
People and
technology. “We help apps acquire high-quality users through artificial
intelligence.” And more. “Powered by machine learning, managed by a team of
advertising specialists” reads the website of this company that helps apps
acquire high-quality users through artificial intelligence. It is a mobile
advertising high-tech company. “In a market such as that of the US where
marketing agencies and media centres are now disintermediated, companies
integrate directly with technological platforms such as ours, where they
purchase ads. Practically, with the help of our platform, companies manage
internally what used to be done by agencies,” points out Viscanti. Technology
and people, closely intertwined. Because, while the most complex thing when it
comes to online advertising is managing the workload and real-time analyses
that are continuously updated, the writing of a proprietary code makes the
difference. Various platforms are involved: Python for data analysis. Redis for
the saving and analysis of the same data, which requires extreme speed. MySQL
is for the data processed in near-real time. Then there is Grafana for
dashboards showing the system trends in real time. Bologna calls America, as
90% of activities are carried out in the US, though the team developing the
technology and dealing with data analysis is located in Italy. “We are a model
of how it is possible to create in Italy technology that is then sold in
markets such as the American one too,” says Viscanti with pride. A lot of studying
but Kabbalah also makes an appearance in this extraordinary story of
innovation. Because the name, after the success story of the previous company,
had to start with M and feature 7 letters. Thus they came up with Mapendo.
After all, it has always been like this, fortune favours the bold.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
Read the other interviews
