Start-up Zapa closes €2.5M first round to add customer loyalty to mobiles

Funding

Zapa has raised €2.5 million to support the launch of ZapaTag, a new customer loyalty technology, which will pioneer the use of near field communications (NFC) over mobiles in Europe. The money comes from the Irish venture capital company Delta Partners.

The entrepreneur John Nagle, founder of Zapa, claims it will be the first company in Europe to deploy NFC technology in a scaled environment. While it is forecast that in the next three years all mobile handsets sold will be NFC compliant, Zapa intends to bridge this deployment gap by the introduction of the ZapaTag and accompanying contactless readers at the point-of-sale, showcasing Ireland as a model for the rollout of NFC services.

The ZapaTag is attached to mobile phones, which the customer simply taps at the retailer’s cash register to download and receive loyalty bonuses and rewards. The technology could also be used to make payments. In return the ZapaTag provides customer profiles.

As former CEO of card payment services company Alphyra, Nagle has in-depth knowledge of the payments, mobile and electronic retail transaction businesses.

Delta Partners will support Zapa in establishing its credentials in near field communications in Ireland, to show that NFC services can be scaled for use in larger markets elsewhere.

Maurice Roche, General Partner with Delta Partners, who will join the board of Zapa, said, “We are delighted to be backing Zapa, which is at the forefront of NFC applications. This funding will help Zapa roll-out a number of unique applications from customer loyalty schemes to NFC payments, and help them secure a leadership position in this market”