A Queen Mary University of London alumnus has received funding for his fledgling tagging marketing business venture in a new government-backed scheme chaired by the former Dragon’s Den investor James Caan.
Sam Amrani, who studied Law at Queen Mary and his business partner Max Birner, recently set up TAMOCO. TAMOCO provides a portal that bridges the world between digital and physical platforms allowing businesses to interact with their customers by providing customised geo-location advertising, and NFC (near field communication) campaigns.
As well as receiving the funding through Start-Up loans, TAMOCO is now piloting their NFC tagging system at Queen Mary’s campuses to carry out more testing and research.
The tags have been placed on posters at various locations at the Mile End campus initially – such as the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science and the Centre for Public Engagement – then rolled out at our other campuses over the coming weeks. Users simply need unlock their smart phone and hold it next to the tag, and then their web browser will automatically open directing the user to more information about the activities taking place in that building.
Peter McOwan, Queen Mary’s Vice Principal of Public Engagement and Student Entreprise, said: “We were delighted to be able to support Sam's considerable talents while he studied here at Queen Mary, and are even more delighted to welcome him and his new company back. This innovative partnership will help us explore new methods to make our campus more accessible, informative and interesting for students and our local community, while promoting student enterprise and giving Sam that data he need to help grow his company.”
Sam explained why the loan has been essential to their business. He said: “We were in need of more funding to develop the core business platform, manage data and finish off the product. We came across the Start-up Loan Company and decided to apply for the loan. We were assigned a mentor who was really useful and connected us with some fantastic people.”
Since its launch TAMOCO has secured deals with a range of high profile corporates, from a range of industries. The company has also recruited 12 employees.
Sam added: “Launching a campaign at Queen Mary is a great place to see the technology at work in the perfect environment. It will allow both staff and students to access information simply and conveniently using their smartphones and give further insight that we’ll use to make our platform and our campaigns even better.”
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