Hostspot

Based in Mexico City, Hostspot was established in 2013 by co-founders Edgar Hernandez Vilchis and Jose Alberto Garcia Garcia. The company positioned itself as a provider of an omnichannel analytics platform for brick-and-mortar businesses. Hostspot's objective was to furnish physical retail spaces with tools to analyze foot traffic and customer behavior, leveraging Wi-Fi proximity technology and beacons. It secured $130,000 in a seed funding round on August 6, 2014, following initial participation in an accelerator program in 2013. A subsequent accelerator round occurred on March 7, 2015.

The core of Hostspot's offering was a suite of three modules designed to translate physical visitor presence into actionable business intelligence. The in-store analytics module provided statistics on new versus repeat visitors, tracked foot traffic both inside and outside the establishment, and generated real-time heat maps to illustrate customer movement patterns. A second module, Smart Wi-Fi portals, transformed guest Wi-Fi access into a marketing channel, allowing businesses to capture leads and present dynamic content based on customer behavior without requiring traditional network passwords. The loyalty module consisted of a visit and proximity-based API, enabling businesses to enhance their own applications with features like personalized welcomes or location-based promotions triggered when a customer enters a store or nears a specific product.

Hostspot served brick-and-mortar businesses seeking to understand in-store customer habits to increase engagement and sales. The business model was centered on providing this analytics and marketing platform, likely on a subscription basis, to clients in sectors such as retail. Despite its initial funding and product offering, the company ceased operations, with a bankruptcy and liquidation event recorded on October 1, 2019.

Keywords: foot traffic analytics, brick-and-mortar retail, in-store analytics, customer behavior analysis, proximity marketing, Wi-Fi analytics, retail technology, customer engagement platform, beacon technology, lead generation, retail analytics, marketing automation, customer loyalty API, heat maps, visitor statistics, out of business, defunct, ceased operations, Hostspot Analytics, Edgar Hernandez Vilchis, Jose Alberto Garcia Garcia