Data Sharing App people.io lets people trade their data

by Startacus Admin

Launched last week in London with the target of going nationwide in three months, London based startup people.io aims to rebalance the standard online consumer and brand relationship by giving more power to the consumer to trade the data they want to share.

We spoke to Founder Nicholas Oliver to find out all the data that matters on this marketplace startup that puts data at the heart of the transaction...people power indeed!

Tell us all about people.io - give us your pitch!

people.io is a marketplace that allows consumers to dynamically licence their data and attention to brands; and be rewarded for doing so. We put the consumer in control by fiercely guarding their privacy and allowing them to set the terms of engagement with brands by determining who, when and how often they are willing to receive updates. This means we can give brands access to engaged consumers who are willing to listen, thereby combining their data with their attention and making a conversion more likely.

So you make your money from the information you gather, but in a more ethical way than usual?

We think that by putting the consumer in control we help to rebuild trust in the digital marketing space. And by creating a fairer value exchange that rewards them instantly we can associate information with reward. We protect privacy by collecting data on people.io and building a walled garden around it. Our sister company C8 Management acts as the intermediary with brands and manages the campaign so brands never access the people.io data directly. For every pound we get from the brands we take a small commission and the rest goes direct to the consumer in the form of credits.

We don’t believe that the current advertising industry is necessarily unethical but that, until now, they haven’t had the right tools to engage in the right way or are applying old world methodology to the digital experience.

Do you think that most consumers are aware of the value of personal data that they share?

People are waking up to the potential value of the data they hold. It’s no longer a quid pro quo that you give up your data for pennies or in return for content, people want to be able to retain control and ownership so they can build on the value of their data continually. The meteoric rise in ad-blocker adoption has increased scarcity in the market and subsequently increased the value of quality data even more.

What stage is the business at and what plans do you have for the near future?  E.g. investment, accelerator programmes etc?

We launched this week in East London, will be nationwide in the next 3 months and in one or more European territories by the end of the year. We’re incredibly fortunate to have been included on the Startup Next pre-accelerator which has been invaluable in refining our consumer proposition and overall go-to-market strategy. And we’ve just started to raise some funds under EIS and are excited to also be in advanced discussions with a major European accelerator.  

Are you the first to launch this type of data sharing platform in the UK, or does it already exist in some form?

We’re the first to adopt a consumer-centric model that has combined key components required in order to make a compelling proposition, one of which being the concept of data-licensing rather than sale.

Finally - a little free promo, give us three people, places or events that have helped you on your startup journey to date.

Startup Next, a programme operated by Techstars with Karina Costa and Jon Bradford at the helm. They, and the rest of the Startup Next team, have been instrumental in the lead up to our launch.

Oliver Woodley, Commercial Strategy Advisor. Oli was a founder of the Audience and is now at VICE Media. He has been instrumental in helping us secure the right mix of investors to help us build and grow the platform.

Fiona Chow, Consumer Engagement Advisor  - a communications expert I’ve worked with for many years. She has helped craft the people.io narrative and engage with media and other stakeholders. She works closely with our Growth Manager, Alessia Camera to on user acquisition, engagement and communication.

If you like startup data / security themed content then you might want to read:

Apply now Winton Labs, a new no equity Data Startup Accelerator in London

Good privacy is good for Startups or our recent news article on The IncuBus Future of Work incubator programme which aimed to focus on startups in the AI, Cyber Security and IoT space

Talking Consumers and Brands - if you're a brand wanting to work in the startup space, give Startacus a shout - we are all ears. Details for this found here. 

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Published on: 31st January 2016