Ever since University of Maryland graduates Paul Capriolo (C'06) and Patrick Jenkins (C'06) won Cupid's Cup – a business competition hosted by the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at UMD – in 2010, the duo has rapidly grown their unique startup Social Growth Technologies Inc. into a company ready and equipped to make its mark on the mobile world.
It all started back in 2009 when the fledgling venture was first launched as a "more technical and flexible solution to monetize the exploding social game market through in-game advertising." Capriolo and Jenkins figured that by leveraging social media, monetization, online gaming, and virtual currency, they were taking advantage of the largest growth areas on the Internet to provide advertisers with "greater demographic targeting, advanced analytics and unique fraud protection, resulting in higher conversions and increased brand engagement."
They were certainly on to something. Capriolo and Jenkins attracted the attention of Under Armour CEO and Founder Kevin Plank, which led to their first place win at Cupid's Cup in 2010, and now they're gearing up to make a name for themselves in the mobile and international markets.
Social Growth Technologies Inc. has slightly pivoted its mission since conception, currently in the midst of developing online coupon applications that "clients use to help them better connect with potential customers," according to Baltimore Business Journal. This move has served Capriolo and Jenkins well, though, as the partners now work with 7,500 merchants worldwide and reach just about 300 million users a month. It's also worth noting that the company is now profitable, although Capriolo has refrained from disclosing by what margin.
Capriolo did however tell the Baltimore Business Journal that he wants Social Growth Technologies Inc. to grow, and that growth has "always been and will continue to be a key component of our business." And it seems as if expansion is definitely a possibility with Social Growth Technologies Inc. experiencing user transactions in 90 countries every single day. Transferring more business into the mobile realm appears to be a part of the plan too, for Capriolo said that almost a third of Social Growth Technologies Inc.'s traffic comes directly from mobile devices.
There's no denying Social Growth Technology Inc.'s vast amount of accomplishments over the years, and hopes are that they're success will only continue as they make plans to rock the mobile world.
