UK m-commerce venture Weve, which is backed by O2, Vodafone and EE, made a loss of “about £25 million” in the 12 months to December 2013, according to the Financial Times.
The performance is perhaps unsurprising give the venture was in start-up mode in 2013, having launched its service commercially early in the year.
However, Weve was given £38 million by its backers – the UK’s three leading operators – to support its launch last year, said the report.
The firm made revenues of about £13 million in its initial 12 months, according to filings at Companies House.
Revenues came mainly though SMS-based advertising and marketing campaigns, its initial service. Weve has subsequently branched out into display advertising.
Further pieces in its service mix – mobile loyalty, offers, coupons and payments – are still in the trial phase.
The venture’s strength is offering a single point of contact for advertisers to reach the vast majority of the UK’s mobile subscribers.
But Weve has to walk a line between revealing valuable data about their subscribers’ activities – of much interest to advertisers – and maintaining their privacy.
Watch an exclusive interview with Weve CEO David Sear here.
Comments