Lumi Mobile acquires IML

Lumi Mobile, the specialist in consumer insight mobile technology and real-time audience engagement, has agreed to acquire interactive events technology group IML from Computershare.

Earlier this year, Lumi Mobile expanded into the meetings and events market with the launch of Join In, a communications app based on the company’s patented, real-time Lumi Live platform.

Founded in 1991 and acquired by Computershare in 2005, IML is a technology company that provides market leading and proprietary audience engagement solutions for thousands of annual meetings and events globally. It owns a number of patents covering a range of aspects of meeting technology. Richard Taylor was chief executive of IML for four years until 2011, when he joined Lumi Mobile. He will remain CEO of the enlarged group.

Commenting on the acquisition, which will be funded by Lumi’s existing shareholders, Richard Taylor said:

“This is a unique opportunity to bring together two exceptional technology companies with patented processes that complement each other enormously. This acquisition underlines the versatility of Lumi’s mobile solutions and creates an integrated technology business defined by global scale, market penetration and high quality client service across our key sectors of Market Research and Live Meetings and Events.  The combined software development resource and capability will further enhance our offerings to our existing market research clients as well as those in the meetings industry.”

IML’s proprietary technology tools enable audience interaction through conversation, texting, voting and content sharing, in addition to delegate registration, response authentication and other functionalities. By capturing and analysing the data generated through this interaction, IML is able to deliver to its clients valuable insight captured from the audience.

Lumi Mobile’s Join In native app is a Software as a Service proposition creating interactive, engaging and effective meeting and live event environments. These may be in one room, or spread across the world; at the same time or independently. Join In ensures absolute real time response, scalability and reliability, from video conferencing to crowd-sourcing at a major event.

Lumi SURVEY, the company’s flexible mobile research platform, is deployable across all major mobile operating systems – iOS (Apple), Android, BlackBerry and Symbian. The tool’s online and offline survey completion functionality allows for a seamless experience anywhere. Through mCAPI, Panel, Survey and Diary Apps, Lumi SURVEY offers: GPS location and validation; multimedia capture, upload and display; QR code access; barcode scanning and passive meter integration.

Both Lumi LIVE and Lumi SURVEY’s Apps work with a wide range of feature phones as well as smartphones to ensure a representative audience.