Newton-based MobiLaurus was founded in 2009 by Northeastern prof and serial entrepreneur Simon Dao, Ph.D and his graduate student at the time Christos Kombouras. The pair, now CEO and VP Sales, set out to capture a share of the growing market around mobile engagement, helping small and large companies ‘put their business in their customers’ hands’ by leveraging the MobiLaurus platform. This platform allows businesses to market directly to customers, and customers to transact and engage with businesses more frequently.

Dao, a serial entrepreneur, has degrees from MIT and Harvard. He is part of Northeastern’s School of Technological Entrepreneurship where he lectures part time in accounting. It was here he met his co-founder, Kombouras, who was one of his graduate students getting his MS after a BS degree electrical engineering and a 3 year career in sales at Analog Devices. MobiLaurus was one of 10 “I-Cubator” projects in the School, where students work in groups and with faculty to further develop and commercialize technologies. According to the company, Dao initially started developing the platform and Kombouras validated and finished the programming.

The company differentiates itself on two fronts: its ordering and commerce platform and its mobile marketing solutions – both which have helped them grow to over 125 clients in their first year.

MobiLaurus’ Specialization

MobiLaurus specializes in deploying apps that require mobile commerce solutions, like ticketing, ordering and making payment transactions. The company can do this more efficiently than other dev firms by way of the unified tech platform they have created. This platform has allowed them to target, enter and then grow quickly in industries that have ticketing and commerce needs at their core – like colleges, restaurants, travel, and entertainment venues.

On top of this, the company differentiates itself by offering mobile marketing solutions by way of SaaS. Most interesting is one they describe as ‘transactable ads’ based on preferences and location. Other marketing solutions MobiLaurus offers includes integration with social networks, a loyalty program that replaces traditional cards, as well as push notifications which they brand under the name HotDOTS^TM.

Client Success Stories

MobiLaurus’ has developed mobile apps to help you order for familiar restaurants like Angora Cafe, Bangkok Express, Boloco, the Upper Crust in Boston as well as take in all the city has to offer with tourism companies like Bay State Cruise Co. and the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. By developing mobile apps, MobiLaurus helps these businesses reach new customers, drive more sales, and increase customer loyalty.

Among their 125 clients, MobiLaurus boasts several success stories — including one that is on track to increase the customer’s sales by $1.1M this year and another that is on track to deliver $72k more annually to a two-location restaurant in the suburbs.

• SuperShuttle (shared-ride airport ground transportation): MobiLaurus developed an iPhone app to allow SuperShuttle customers to schedule and track their transportation. The company saw a daily increase of 600 reservations and a 10 percent incremental increase in repeat user reservations thanks to the app. The app is on track to deliver $1.1M in reservations annually for SuperShuttle.
• Blue Ribbon BBQ: This two- location BBQ restaurant outside of Boston wanted to increase sales and catering customers to area businesses, organizations and families. MobiLaurus built an app enabling customers to order from their phones, and is on track to deliver $72,000 more to the company annually.
• BostonUSA: MobiLaurus developed mobile solutions for the Boston Tourism
  Bureau to sell mobile tickets to Red Sox games, Trolley tours and the
  Museum of Fine Arts – no loger requiring them to visit ticket booths. To date,
  the iPhone and Android app has had thousands of downloads.

MobiLaurus is currently hiring — check out their openings here. Learn more about the company on their website and by following them on Twitter @MobiLaurus.