LISNR

LISNR is an American technology company that provides a Data Transmission protocol that utilizes ultrasonic, inaudible technology that sends data over audio. LISNR is a graduate of the Techstars and R/GA accelerator in 2015 and has won numerous industry awards for its technology.

History

In March 2012, Rodney Williams, an executive at Procter & Gamble, joined the StartupBus, a competition in which participants launch a company in 72 hours aboard a bus. By the end of the trip, Williams, Josh Glick and Chris Ostoich created a demo reel on an application specifically catered to music using ultrasonic audio. The company raised $850,000 in a seed round in August 2012.

By the end of 2013, LISNR worked with AbOUT 50 artists, and the app had about 200,000 downloads. Williams secured a strategic partnership with Roc Nation, the record label founded by Jay-Z, which granted LISNR access to many artists and corporations along with office space in New York City to supplement their headquarters in Cincinnati.

LISNR closed $3.5 million Series A round of funding in June 2014. ProgresS Ventures led the investment, with participation from Jump Capital, CincyTech, Serra Ventures, and Mercury Fund. By June 2015, LISNR had offices in Cincinnati, New York City and San Francisco, with a total of 22 employees. The company raised a $10 million series B round led by Intel Capital in November 2015.

Technology

LISNR is a data transmission protocol that utilizes ultrasonic, inaudible technology (referred to as Smart Tones) that sends data over audio. It transmits packets of data that enable proximity data transmission on any LISNR-enabled device. Its technology is also incorporated into various applications, embedded devises and services to enable ultrasonic data transmission for the Internet of Things.

Awards and recognition

LISNR received the Gold Cannes Lion for Innovation in Mobile award at the 2015 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. LISNR was awarded the CNBC Disruptor 50 award in consecutive years, 2015 and 2016. The company was one of the Top Ten Automotive Startups of LA Auto Show’s AutoMobility LA in 2016. It was named to the Consumer Technology Associate CES 2017 Innovation Awards list as an honoree in the Software and Mobile Apps category. It was a finalist for SXSW's Music Audio Innovation award and winner of the SXSW V2V startup competition in 2015. LISNR was one of 10 finalists at the MIDEMlabs startup competition in Cannes in 2014.