SnapIn Software was one of the better outcomes in the Seattle technology community in recent years, with the mobile software company selling to Nuance for about $200 million in 2008.
Now, SnapIn founder Brian Roundtree — an entrepreneurial and engineering prodigy who started his first company at the age of 12 and later created Redmond-based Action Engine — is kicking around a new startup called nFluence Media.
The company just scored $1.8 million in funding, with Seattle venture capitalist Tom Huseby serving as chairman of the board. Huseby certainly is familiar with Roundtree’s work, since the entrepreneur-in-residence at Voyager Capital previously sat on the board of SnapIn.
So, what’s nFluence Media all about?
We’ve yet to track down Huseby or Roundtree, but the company’s Web site offers a few clues.
The company says that it is creating a place to get relevant offers and deals from retailers in one spot on a smartphone — “without a single email.” The company writes:
“There are approximately 75,000 deals out there EVERY DAY! By creating your own anonymous and private profile in a fun, easy way, we pre-search and filter the best possible offers for you — the right stuff in the right place at the right time… and at the right price — without you telling us who you are or anything about yourself! It’s like having your very own personal shopper.”
Other companies are trying to filter deals and provide relevant offers, namely Seattle upstart ChoozOn. Led by former Yahoo executive Usama Fayyad, ChoozOn raised $3.2 million last year.
nFluence is being led by CEO Henry Lawson, the former president of Donovan Data Systems and current chairman of MediaEquals and Cogniti.
Roundtree, who is serving as CTO of nFluence, obviously couldn’t stay away from the entrepreneurial game. And that shouldn’t come as a surprise given the description on his LinkedIn bio which says: “Yes … I am addicted to startups.”
Author: John Cook