inSparq

Founded in 2010, inSparq emerged as a technology platform designed to help online retailers and brands identify and promote their trending products in real time. The company was established by Veronika Sonsev, Richie Hecker, and Carlos Justiniano. Sonsev, who served as CEO, brought a wealth of experience from her 12-year career in business development and strategy at firms like AOL and Jumptap, and she also founded Women in Wireless. Hecker, the Executive Chairman, had a background in operating online advertising companies and leading the turnaround of the social network Bebo. Justiniano, the VP of Engineering, held a Guinness World Record in Distributed Computation and had experience as a director of software development.

inSparq's core business was providing a real-time platform that analyzed social media shares and online purchases to determine product popularity. This enabled retailers to improve product discovery and social engagement. The company offered a self-service referral marketing and analytics solution, allowing clients to feature these trending products in on-site recommendations, email marketing, and advertisements. This approach aimed to deliver a social shopping experience for a broad range of e-commerce clients. The business model was centered on providing these social merchandising and referral marketing services to an audience that included notable brands like American Apparel, Newegg, and giggle.

The company's platform was designed to give retailers the tools to leverage social proof in their marketing efforts. By showcasing what was currently popular among shoppers, the service aimed to increase conversions and brand awareness. In July 2015, inSparq was acquired by Adiant, a digital technology company specializing in native advertising. The acquisition was a strategic move for Adiant to integrate inSparq's social commerce technology with its own advertising network, creating what they termed the first-ever socially trending product ad. This combination allowed Adiant to offer enhanced digital solutions to its retail and brand clients by tapping into social media trends for advertising content.

Keywords: referral marketing, social commerce, e-commerce analytics, product discovery, social shopping, online retail solutions, trending products, customer engagement, marketing technology, brand merchandising, social media analytics, real-time marketing, ad technology, e-commerce tools, digital advertising, conversion optimization, online merchandising, retail technology, social proof, customer data analysis