ItsOn gets its funding on, targets mobile data 'bill shock'
The startup raises $15.5 million in a Series B round of funding for an idea that would let users determine their own data needs.
A mobile company that wants to change how you access data just raised a boatload of cash.
ItsOn announced today that it has closed a $15.5 million Series B round of financing. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz led the round. The firm was joined by investment company SV Angel.
ItsOn takes a unique stance on data usage by allowing customers to choose how much data they need and for what purpose. The company's Web site is shy about details on its service, but in a statement, ItsOn founder and CEO Greg Raleigh says that his firm's focus is to allow smartphone owners to determine which services they need and pay only for them.
"Mobile service consumers are finally empowered to choose exactly which mobile services they need and how much they want to spend -- eliminating over-charging and bill shock," Raleigh said in a statement. "Consumers can select, monitor, control, and share all of their mobile services as they wish, instantly from their phone, tablet or PC without the inconvenience of talking to a sales associate, calling a support center or logging into a Web site."
In order for the service to work, ItsOn needs to partner with carriers delivering data, acting as the middleman that offers services and ratchets them back based on customer needs. Consumers will then have ItsOn running on their devices, allowing them to choose what they want.
According to All Things Digital, which first reported on the funding, ItsOn envisions a service in which customers can choose to buy access to Facebook or video for a set period of time.
The issue at play, according to Dr. Raleigh, is that customers are currently paying for services on their mobile bills that they don't use. ItsOn wants to address that by providing them only with the services they want and nothing else. ItsOn also believes it can work with enterprise customers to help them limit data to only certain services.
Unfortunately, ItsOn isn't yet ready to announce how its technology and plans will work. The company is waiting until next year's launch on carrier networks to explain its plans.