Tech Brewery startup aims to help advertisers reach smartphone users

Monetizing users is nothing new in the world of online marketing, but it has been particularly challenging for companies to take advantage of mobile users through advertising.

According to a story in Concentrate Media, local startup AppKey is aiming to solve that problem.

The company has created a new advertising channel that it hopes will fix the return on investment problem for advertising trying to make money on mobile devices. Its strategy is based on the idea that smartphone users will opt-in for advertising in return for free premium content.

Based in the Tech Brewery on Jones Drive, AppKey is about one year old, employs three people, and has reached 8,000 users. The company plans to scale quickly, with CEO Jim Vitek telling Concentrate he expects to hit more than 1 million users within the next year.

• Read the full story on Concentrate.

Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2