Mountain View, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/17/2015 -- In what is believed to be a first for Australia, a Melbourne-based technology startup has announced it will be running a competition where the winner will have the option of receiving five per cent equity in the business.

The business is called Minfo - short for 'More Information'; it's a mobile app-based platform designed to help brands more effectively connect and engage with consumers.

Minfo was launched at an event at The Trust Melbourne last night, at which details of the startup's launch promotion were outlined.

Roland Storti, who has spent the past three and a half years developing the proprietary technology that sits behind Minfo, says the launch competition is designed to get people to download the app and sign up to Minfo.

"We thought it (giving away five per cent of the business) might be a cool way to get people more interested in the company that's behind the technology. There's also this mystique built up around technology startups at the moment – will the business go gangbusters? Who knows, but imagine if you were offered a piece of Facebook at the very start, before anyone had heard of it – would you have taken a chance?" he says.

Alternative Prize

Storti says he's very aware some people won't want to take the chance and that the five per cent option will only appeal to a certain percentage of the public, so he's provided an alternative prize.

If the competition winner isn't keen on receiving five per cent of Minfo, they can instead elect to take ownership of a new Mazda 6 Nero hatch or Sedan.

"Will they be better off?" Storti muses. "Again, who knows? All I can say is I've already invested considerable time and money into the business with a view to taking it all the way. I have a track record in starting and running businesses, and so obviously I'm going to give the winner all the background necessary to make an informed decision before they sign on the dotted line."

According to Storti, while the winner will have equity in Minfo's Australian business, they won't have exposure to any liabilities.

"We are entering a new era for 'mobile moments' and we'd love for one of our customers to come along for the ride," he says.

http://www.minfo.com

About Minfo
Minfo enables brands to digitise the advertisements they run in traditional broadcast and print mediums; on the consumer side, it allows members of the public to use their mobile device to interact in real time with Minfo-enabled advertisements.

According to Minfo founder, Roland Storti, Minfo 'closes the loop' on the consumer experience making it easy for people to interact with brands in real time, whether it's to take advantage of advertising offers, purchase goods on-the-spot, request more information about a particular product or service, or make a booking online – all with the simple touch of a button or hands-free voice command.

"We started Minfo with the consumer in mind: How can we make it easier for people to interact with the ads they see on TV, hear on radio and read in print publications? We've taken it a couple of steps further and it can now also be used with online mediums such as YouTube as well as in physical retail premises."

Measuring Advertising Effectiveness

Minfo can also help companies and organisations track the effectiveness of their advertising.

"With the detailed back-end analytics we've built in to the Minfo platform, we can help brands determine whether or not their TV commercials and print and radio advertisements are actually working, and from there help measure the return on their investment," Storti said.

"In other words, are people seeing the ad and actually getting involved with the call to action? For a long time brand marketers have wanted to be able to measure the effectiveness of their advertising - not just reach, which can be a bit meaningless these days, but something a lot more tangible. Well now, with Minfo, they can."

Storti said advertisers would pay only if consumers used the app to interact with their brand.

Minfo is a pure pay-by-performance play. If people use the app to purchase goods or seek more information or make a booking online, then the advertiser pays between 5 and 50 cents per action taken, similar to Google's pay-per-click model with Adwords.

Minfo is free to download and is available for both Android and iOS devices.

About Roland Storti, Founder and CEO, Minfo
A fanatical problem-solver dedicated to producing results, Roland has 16 years of senior management experience, leading to his own start-up IT company, Linked Business Concepts. For more information on Roland's career, please visit LinkedIn.

Besides coming up with great ideas, like Minfo while driving, Roland is a bit of a soccer tragic. He not only plays himself, but has two of his kids playing at a highly competitive level. Soccer clubs will now benefit from Minfo, as will all nonprofits, who want to become affiliates.

Roland is a charitable man, so is delighted to now have created Minfo for nonprofit organisations to benefit by saving administration and marketing costs, as well as incur a passive income. He will never charge charities.

The nonprofit affiliates already include:
vivaRCH for The Royal Children's Hospital
TLC for Kids
Marine Megafauna Foundation
My Room
National Stroke Foundation

The client list already includes:
Encore TV, Videos & Events
AttentionNOW
Black Lamb
PR Warrior
HRPR
Social Concepts Consulting
Yvonne Adele
Altair Real Estate
Altair Funds Management
Moro&Ognissanti Australia
Style Capital
Gabee & Cobb&Co.
The Trust, Melbourne
Italian Chef
Health Naturally You - Naturopathy
Rise Yoga & Wellness - online, yoga and workshops
Osteopaths Melbourne
Graeme Powell Mazda
Scorptech Computers
3D Photomation (Scorptech)
Grocer in Prahran - name TBC
Vichy Catalano (Spanish water brand)

For interview and picture opportunities, please contact:
Alex Lowen on 0438 726 533 or email Alex@AttentionNOW.com.au
Helen Reizer on 0412 684 431 or email HelenR@hrpr.com.au