Kochava adds Chinese office, new mobile features

Sandpoint technology company Kochava has added several new features for customers that use mobile apps and is looking to expand both in Idaho and at a newly opened Chinese office. The company, which in November reached an agreement with state and local leaders for tax incentives to help it expand, offers analytics and other data tools to mobile advertisers.

Kochava has increased sales by 500 percent in 2014, movement that CEO Charles Manning called “insane growth.” Vice President of Marketing and Client Services Jason Hicks said the company continues adding workers. The company has more than 40 employees, he said, with plans to continue adding workers next year.

Hicks said that the company’s growth is due to signing deals with large companies, including Facebook, Microsoft, McDonalds and Yahoo, and leveraging existing accounts. He said the company is also looking to add more Chinese clients. Earlier this year, Kochava signed a deal with entertainment company Chukong Technologies. Hicks said Chukong owns some of China’s most popular mobile games, and wants to use Kochava’s services to help expand globally.

“They want us to help them with their game plan to come to North America,” he said.

Kochava has hired a new general manager in Beijing and will likely be adding more staff in China for sales and support. Hicks said having a presence in China will help Kochava work with customers 24 hours a day. The company is also working with its clients to expand services to other Asian countries.

Kochava recently announced support for two new products. One is iBeacons, a location-based system used by Apple that would allow Kochava’s clients to offer targeted ads to customers when they walk into a store. The other is onboard linking, which lets clients create a customized experience when users click on an ad, then download and launch a specific app. For example, Pandora or another music app could put an ad on a website for a musical group that would lead to a tailored launch screen for an app.

Hicks said the company is also seeking to expand its data science team, which uses machine-learning tools to analyze clients’ data to gather new insights and use that information more effectively. He said that new services based on machine-learning will be available in early 2015.

“We think that will be a great growth revenue for us,” he said.

Sandpoint, in northern Idaho, is far removed geographically from American tech hubs such as San Francisco, but Hicks said he and Manning travel frequently to the Bay Area and haven’t had difficulty attracting workers to Kochava.

“We’re doing things a little differently than the way things are done in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. That’s creating interest and intrigue and becomes our hiring advantage,” he said. In addition to the geographic difference, he said the fact that the company has yet to take on any outside funding sets it apart from other tech companies.