Shama Keskar was working with former Google colleagues on a new startup when she got a message about a different startup opportunity.
Judah Longgrear, who is the co-founder of Tampa-based Nickelytics, had messaged her asking if she'd be interested in working with him on his marketing technology company.
Keskar was, and still currently is, working across the nation in Seattle and does not plan to leave any time soon. But her fondness for the startup life coupled with the large untapped market in digital advertising made her take the leap.
"Advertising is a billion dollar industry and not many people have done much innovation in that space; it still has room to grow and that's why after digging through, I decided to move forward," she said.
She is now serving as the chief technology officer and co-founder of the company.
"When we started, when I started thinking about all these things [to do with the company], I believe the best way to make things happen is to be a partner rather than advisor," Keskar said. "And me and Judah had a good chemistry, we were completing each other's sentences and that's something I look for."
Former co-founder Sven Hermann has stepped down and will serve as an advisor to the company.
“Shama’s leadership, vision, and execution skills are critical for our next phase of growth,” Longgrear, who also serves as Nickelytics' CEO, said in a statement. “Shama’s deep experience building large, scalable solutions for some of the largest brands in the tech world coupled with her successful entrepreneurial endeavors is essential for our company’s evolution in the marketplace.”
Keksar worked in Silicon Valley for eight years before moving up the West Coast. She previously served as an engineering leader at Google, followed by becoming the senior engineering manager for LinkedIn, an engineering manager for Visa and was most recently a senior engineering lead at Amazon.
She has been in the new Nickelytics position for roughly one month and is laying the groundwork to take the startup to new heights. She is eyeing raising $1.5 million by the end of the year, some of which Nickelytics has already raised through crowdfunding site Republic. The company has previously raised $1.2 million.
The company currently uses advertising technology and the gig economy to outfit vehicles with an advertisement, which can then be driven throughout town and specifically track who has seen it. They were also in the prestigious TechStars accelerator program in Italy, before Covid-19 forced the then-co-founders to flee the country. It's also featured in Tampa Bay Inno's 21 startups to watch in 2021 lineup.
Keskar wants to take the company beyond the vehicle advertisements and break into the digital advertising space, which could be seen in the screens in many ride sharing vehicles or on airplanes.
"They want to take this to the next level with analytics and (the previous model was) great for the beginning," she said. "But we want to get Nickelytics more scalable and get more advertising to attract larger advertisers."
As for an eventual move to Tampa Bay, Keskar said with the increasing ability to work remotely, she plans to remain in Seattle with her family. But, she's not counting out Florida in the future.
"I have been to Florida but never stayed in Tampa Bay — maybe down the line when we plan to retire, if Seattle doesn't work out Florida might be a good choice," she said.
