Taking over InfoGlutton will let the Gatineau firm's technology do the work instead of employees, providing a greater return on investment to MediaMiser's clients, said founder Brett Serjeantson in an OBJ interview.
"The accuracy is a big thing," he said. "It also meshes with our philosophy of teaching the system how to tone; there's a lot of artificial intelligence in the system. The other thing, too, is they're working towards being able to handle and identify multiple languages."
Artificial intelligence will make it easier for small companies track tweets, Facebook posts and other social media, he said.
InfoGlutton co-founder and CEO David Nadeau will join MediaMiser and become a senior executive responsible for science and technology at the Ottawa-based company.
Some of the details of the acquisition still are being finalized, Mr. Serjeantson said, such as whether to keep InfoGlutton in its current office in Gatineau. But what is known for sure is MediaMiser will hire two of its three employees and keep the branding, for the time being.
Funding for the acquisition came from the Business Development Bank of Canada and Royal Bank of Canada, with advice from LaBarge Weinstein LLP, a business law firm in Ottawa.
The acquisition is another metric of MediaMiser's expansion in the past year, which kicked off in February 2011 with $1 million in institutional funding – a first for the traditionally bootstrapped firm. Wednesday's acquisition came from separate funding, Mr. Serjeantson noted.
MediaMiser, repeatedly named one of Ottawa's fastest-growing companies, now has close to 50 people after reporting 40 in May 2011. The firm has knocked down a wall and expanded across the floor in its Holland Cross office to house their growing research and development section, Mr. Serjeantson added.
The nine-year-old company is seeking another round of funding in the near future, he said. "In fact, we've had significant interest."
