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App Developer Poised for New Funding

Thousand Oaks mobile advertising platform developer Deep Rock Ventures Inc. has hired a Beverly Hills investment banking firm to lead its next round of capital funding for its Searchable.com application. NMS Capital Advisors said it will lead the Series B funding to raise $4 million for Deep Rock Ventures to set up a test launch of the Searchable.com app in Los Angeles, said Trevor Saliba, chief executive of NMS Capital. The investment firm will reach out to family offices, high net worth investors and some private funds, he said. Deep Rock’s app acts like a real-time marketplace connecting consumers and small- and medium-sized business owners that allows users to post requests for services or products. The businesses can then respond to those requests with their offers via the app’s built-in messaging platform. Users can then choose to negotiate further for a better deal, Saliba said. The app can be used for consumer items such as jewelry, or services such as hotel rooms. Businesses are located by the app based on ZIP code and by height in the case of high-rise buildings, he added. “It’s the patented technology and their ability to do a one-to-many platform, either coming from the individual user perspective or from the small- to medium-business owner perspective,” Saliba said. “It also creates a level playing field for small- to medium-sized businesses to be able to compete with big-box firms.” Currently, Searchable.com application is downloadable for free on Android and Apple mobile devices to users and businesses, according to Saliba. Businesses can also pay for a premium version, which charges monthly for businesses to have all access to all of the platform’s capabilities. The business model is to generate revenue from advertisers, Saliba explained, so business don’t have to pay commissions. Deep Rock’s founder, Frederick Rice, founded the company about two years ago and is a significant investor, according to Saliba. The company raised $2 million in its first round of funding, he said, toward developing the technology, research and development and to pay legal services for patenting the technology. In February, the company announced its third mobile technology and communications patent had been granted by the U.S. Patent Office.

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