Gallop Labs

Gallop Labs, founded in 2014 by Karthik Ramakrishnan, Farzana Nasser, and Naeem Lakhani, was a prescriptive mobile marketing and analytics platform that was ultimately acquired by Big Viking Games in January 2016. The company originated as a spin-off from the mobile development firm BNOTIONS, where the founders identified a market need for sophisticated post-launch app marketing. Co-founder Farzana Nasser conceived the initial business plan as part of her master's thesis at New York University, aiming to leverage first-party data to bring transparency and efficiency to advertisers. The company launched as a division of BNOTIONS in 2013 before spinning off.

The firm's core business was providing a platform that used proprietary algorithms and data science to analyze in-app behavioral data. This allowed its clients—primarily mobile publishers and brands with significant mobile presences—to identify, target, and acquire their most valuable and engaged users. By integrating at the API level with platforms like Facebook and Twitter, Gallop Labs assisted marketers in running campaigns aimed at prospects with high conversion potential, effectively optimizing the customer journey and reducing acquisition costs. The platform served notable clients such as The New York Times, AccuWeather, and RBC Royal Bank. In December 2014, Gallop Labs secured a significant seed funding round of $2.5 million from investors including Golden Venture Partners, Mantella Venture Partners, and prominent angel investors like the CEOs of Wattpad and Big Viking Games.

Despite winning a Facebook Innovation Award and being named Canada's Most Innovative Company at CIX, Gallop Labs faced internal challenges and an evolving market. In January 2016, the company was acquired by Big Viking Games, a leader in HTML5 social and mobile games, in what was described as a technology platform acquisition or "acquihire". Big Viking Games was both an investor and a customer of Gallop, seeking to integrate Gallop's analytical capabilities to enhance its user intelligence and data science for game publishing. Following the acquisition, the technology team transitioned to Big Viking's Toronto office, while the founding executive team, including CEO Karthik Ramakrishnan and Chief Strategy Officer Farzana Nasser, departed.

Keywords: Gallop Labs, mobile marketing platform, prescriptive analytics, user acquisition, customer intelligence, data science, app marketing, ad targeting, Big Viking Games acquisition, BNOTIONS spin-off, Karthik Ramakrishnan, Farzana Nasser, mobile user retention, marketing automation, audience intelligence, Facebook Marketing Partner, campaign optimization, behavioral data analysis, app analytics, customer journey optimization