Xcelerate Wellington Grant Contest Aims To Boost Local Businesses Story and Photos by Julie Unger
When CEO Aaron Itzkowitz and CFO Alan Berkun pitched their company Jinglz LLC to the judges at Xcelerate Wellington last November, they didn’t really know what might happen. As it turned out, they walked away with a $10,000 grant after winning the business competition created by the Young Professionals of Wellington to engage and stimulate the local business community. The Jinglz idea was pitched to a distinguished panel of area business leaders, including Mark Bellissimo, CEO of Equestrian Sport Productions; Robbin Lee, CEO of Wellington Regional Medical Center; Wellington resident and Beebo inventor Martin Hill, who appeared recently on ABC’s Shark Tank TV show; and Jeff Brown, entrepreneur in residence at Florida International University. “We’re so excited. The nature of the project may be simplistic in its concept, but what is being built, the platform behind it, is very technically complex. It’s also going to be about big data and scalability,” Itzkowitz said of Jinglz, an app that uses proprietary technology to ensure that users are more engaged with video advertisements. It all started about two years ago, when Itzkowtiz’s son Yoseph was watching the Super Bowl, the commercials in between the game, and realized that
there was an opportunity for a business idea. “Advertisers pay a significant amount of money for their commercials to be played during commercial breaks,” said Itzkowitz, who has a background in marketing, sales and commercializing new ideas. They discussed the potential of gaining feedback for advertisers as a means of targeting an audience, and the idea took off. The program, an app for phones and tablets, allows the user to watch up to four commercials at a time and be entered into a jackpot where they are guaranteed to win money. The winnings come from the money that advertisers pay to join in the program. Currently, Jinglz is set up for multiple jackpot games, with drawings every hour, and the ability to increase the frequency as needed. “It only takes 30 seconds of time to enter into a jackpot,” Itzkowitz said.
Judges Robbin Lee and Martin Hill.
Judges Jeff Brown and Mark Bellissimo.
The hourly jackpot could be $40,000. First prize might win $8,000, with multiple other prizes. “You’re guaranteed to win something,” he said. “It’s almost like a Robin Hood type of story.” The advertisers pay to participate, and Itzkowitz expects advertisers to flock to Jinglz as they realize just how targeted the program is. The audience,
Members of the Young Professionals of Wellington with the judges and winners Aaron Itzkowitz and Alan Berkun from Jinglz.
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