27. Eyetease

Founder: Richard Corbett
Founded: February 2010 (launched January 2012)
Website: www.eyeteasemedia.com

Featured on our Startups 100 list last year shortly after launch, Richard Corbett’s adaptive taxi-mounted advertising system has been taking the world by storm in the last 12 months. Using Internet-connected screens mounted on taxis, Eyetease’s iTaxitop technology can show contextual advertisements specific to the location of the taxi and time of day; for example showing Chinese language ads whilst driving through Chinatown. Having already enjoyed significant success in the US market, Corbett has turned his attention to launching iTaxiTop in the UK; the technology was recently approved for use in London black cabs and will gain full approval from Transport for London this summer. The last year has also seen the launch of iTaxiTop’s sister product CabWifi, which gives passengers free high-speed Internet access in taxis in return for watching a short advertisement – Corbett says it has already proved a huge hit with customers and the technology looks set to follow iTaxiTop as a revolutionary new way of delivering advertising. Over the next 12 months Eyetease plans to build on its success, concluding deals with a new range of clients in the USA, the UK, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.