Seattle-based software firm Syntonic will on Wednesday list on...

Seattle-based software firm Syntonic will on Wednesday list on the ASX in a reverse-listing that values the company at $60.5 million.

Syntonic, founded in 2013, has developed two software products for sponsored data — one for consumers and one for business.

Its main product is an app, Freeway, that allows people to get free access to the internet by having large brands or sponsors to pay for that data.

Its second app, which uses the same technology, is called DataFlex and enables companies to do split billing on personal smartphones, monitoring app traffic to divide bills automatically between personal and business use.

“This has been a long journey for us to get here but we’re extremely excited to finally be here,” CEO Garry Greenbaum, a former Microsoft executive, told The Australian.

“We’ve found app developers and sponsors are rather happy to pay for your access, as a means for acquiring customers, deepening engagement and loyalty, and ultimately monetising those customers.

“The real magic here, the thing that makes this so special, is if you’re a content provider and you want to create some sort of differentiated offer around sponsored data, you don’t need to do anything other than sign a business agreement with us. You don’t have to modify you reserves, your application, content or anything. We take care of everything.”

Syntonic has signed partnerships with Tata, which routes 24 per cent of the world’s internet traffic, and AT&T, as well as sponsorship deals with Expedia.

The firm will also on Wednesday launch a deal with the AT&T network in the US on the hugely popular mobile game Pokemon GO, offering players up to 1GB of free data.

“This is just a really hot app, and even in economies like US where data is relatively inexpensive, it has a high data consumption and it’s a game where you have to be on the move, you have to be outside of the house and using mobile data.”

Mr Greenbaum said Syntonic’s sponsored data software targets the 4.3 billion consumers that don’t have the financial means to access the internet, and the 2 billion prepaid mobile subscribers that ration their data usage because it’s so expensive.

He chose to list in Australia, despite the company’s Seattle base, due to the proximity of South East Asia, where Syntonic already generates much of its revenue.

“We were at that pivot point in our company where in to capture our opportunities we needed to grow, and quite significantly,” he said. “We looked at various financing options and found that from an investor perspective, Australia has shown a lot of leadership at mobile-oriented investing and a listing here adds a lot of credibility dealing with some of the major Fortune 50 clients we’ve partnered with.

“We hope to have an office in Australia sometime in 2016.”

source: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...x/news-story/a1f10732f8f82238b641a27fde0e9c64