Featured Startup Pitch: Monitr offers a news-focused analysis tool to help better track financial trends and sentiment

ELEVATOR PITCH

Monitr aggregates what we see as an underutilized source of market data, the news and information that people read and become effected by, which in turn influences their own perceptions and even consumer trends of particular companies.

PRODUCT/SERVICE DESCRIPTION

Monitr is a technology and financial data services company which specializes in the analysis of news, opinion, and social media to determine the aggregate sentiment and trends of equities, commodities, and currencies across world markets. We do so to accurately inform investors who seek different perspectives of trends in the world market.

FOUNDER’S STORY

While completing my MBA, I worked with a HFT firm in Zurich, Switzerland. This is where the idea for Monitr started; I saw how important data was to making decisions for algorithmic trading, and began exploring the possibility of incorporating other data into trading strategies. Given the variety of signals that may be incorporated into trading strategies on the financial markets, I realized that news and opinions were a greatly underutilized signal. With that realization, we chose to direct our focus on the relevance of the media in business spheres, and provide those with the same belief with a tool they can easily use.

MARKETING/PROMOTION STRATEGY

Having a background in the financial industry, the utilization of contacts was important and extremely beneficial in the beginning stages of promoting Monitr. This also gave us a better understanding of what the potential customer would be looking for in a product. Being able to adapt and make changes is vital when starting marketing efforts.

We have also started with some targeted marketing efforts through advertising on a variety of channels. Being able to accurately track results, and identify methods which are achieving the greatest levels of traction is essential to a successful marketing and promotion strategy.

These two forms of marketing and promotion are easily implementable. We are also working on incorporating SEO, case studies, and other forms of data-driven online marketing, which require development time to implement. We believe that having a balance in our strategy is important in the long-term growth of the business.

MARKET OPPORTUNITY

The market we are tapping into is filled with a variety of potential customer profiles. This includes those who are investing in the stock market, or even businesses that want to utilize our data for risk management. Another valuable market opportunity for us is in algorithmic trading, as these businesses or individuals can utilize our data feeds and API to optimize their trading strategy.

According to the Aite Group, over 50 percent of quantitative firms currently use machine-readable news feeds tracking news and social media trends. The exponential growth in news and sentiment analysis to gauge future market trends is sometimes flooded with indigestible big data—something the Monitr platform seeks to overcome.

HOW WE DIFFERENTIATE FROM THE COMPETITION

Monitr’s technological advantage is two-fold. Human limitations dictate that investors are simply not capable of the real-time analysis offered by Monitr, nor is Monitr’s proprietary news monitoring, analysis and visualization technology something that is replicated by competing products. For those competitors who can approximate Monitr’s breadth of news coverage and depth of analysis, Monitr’s price point is lower, thus more friendly to individual investors and financial organizations.

Monitr incorporates a variety of specifically-designed features to give users a better understanding of overall market conditions. This gathering and analysis of the data is essential. However, what makes the product stand out is the ability to accurately correlate the derived information in an easily consumable way. Monitr strives to maintain a high standard of usability, not only through a web-based dashboard but also by providing a separate API and data feed for algorithmic trading companies.

BUSINESS MODEL

Monitr offers potential users a three-tier structure ranging from a free starter plan to a dedicated company plan that incorporates many additional features. A cost-efficient individual plan is also available to users who find themselves in the mid-range. Monitr is also heavily focused on providing easily integratable API and data feeds for mutual funds, hedge funds and other financial institutions.

CURRENT NEEDS

We believe that we are using our available resources very well. Currently what we need is to simply stick to our company plan and organization goals, and trust in our product.

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HEADQUARTERS: New York City