SILICON VALLEY: JiWire raises $20 million for location-based advertising

JiWire Inc. has raised $20 million in new funding, bringing its total capital raised to date at $45 million. The San Francisco-based company provides a platform to deliver advertising across mobile applications and public Wi-Fi. It now claims to reach 40 million users every month.
The $20 million venture capital round was led by Trident Capital while existing investors Comcast Interactive Capital, DFJ Frontier, Norwest Venture Parnters and Panorama Capital also participated in the financing.
The new cash will be used to expand JiWire’s location-based advertising business, specifically through new investment in ad technology, merger-and-acquisition opportunities and continued international expansion.
“We’re delighted that Trident Capital has heartily endorsed our leadership position and momentum in location based media,” JiWire CEO David Courtney said in a prepared statement. “We are in a period of phenomenal growth, leveraging location to transform the advertising market. We have our sights set on enhancing our proprietary data technology, expanding our unique and extensive distribution network and providing revolutionary ad products for our growing client base of leading advertisers to locationize their brands.”
John Moragne, co-founder of Trident Capital, who will now join JiWire’s board, said: “We have focused intently on location as an important tool in delivering relevant and targeted media to mobile users.”