In our 5 minutes with profiles, MEF members talk about their business, their aspirations for the future and the wider mobile industry. This week, we meet PJ Gurumohan, Co-Founder and CEO of GENWI, winner of the inaugural MEF Americas Award for Mobile Innovation, held in Miami last November.
What does GENWI do?
In short, GENWI (Generation Wireless) helps content publishers create live and engaging apps with a cloud-based mobile Content Management System (mCMS). Publishers can easily repurpose existing content, enjoy complete creative freedom using standard web technologies, and deliver apps that can be revised in real time on all mobile devices. The GENWI mCMS enables publishers and content marketers to get on mobile quickly with no programming and zero total cost of ownership. There are over 2,000 GENWI-powered apps from customers including American Express, Deloitte, Condé Nast, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Dolan Company.
When did GENWI launch and what growth have you seen?
We started the company in 2010 and we’ve grown exponentially in the last few years. We’ve gone from a small handful of people to over 40 employees. We’ve also secured $7M in Series A funding from FLOODGATE and Elevation Partners that is fueling our next stage of growth.
What are your company’s main goals?
We founded Genwi to enable content owners to be able to reach the wireless generation effectively. We continue to innovate in this area by providing ways to deliver contextually rich content to audiences, however they are accessing it.
Where do you see GENWI in three years’ time?
We want to help content publishers to engage with Generation Wireless.
What aspect of mobile is most exciting to you right now?
The rapid evolution of the way that people are interacting with mobile devices and the way that it is changing our relationship with technology (and the way it can be used) is incredibly exciting. We are in a new phase of technological advancement and we are looking forward to seeing where it all leads.
What’s the most critical issue that will hit mobile within the next 12 months?
For many companies the issue of ‘discoverability’ within App Stores and beyond is reaching a critical point. This impacts users too, as it is becoming increasingly tough to find the content that they are looking for.
Apart from your own, which mobile companies are the ones to watch in the year ahead?
Rather than any particular companies, we’re really excited to see how advertising evolves in the mobile space over the next year. For many publishers, the ability to deliver effective, high value advertising is key to help grow the market.
PJ Gurumohan is Co-Founder and CEO of GENWI – You can follow GENWI and PJ on Twitter.
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