Anttenna Redefines and Mobilizes Classifieds

Just as Twitter evolved blogging into micro-blogging, Anttenna is today launching a free smartphone application that reinvents classified advertising as "microlistings". Launching as an iPhone application, Anttenna delivers a real-time, location-aware and mobile consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer microlistings marketplace for the buying, selling, and bartering of goods and services. Today, Anttenna announced the application is now available in most major metropolitan areas across the United States and Canada, building on the success of pilots in San Diego, Seattle, and Austin.

"Anttenna is like a swap meet in your pocket," said Marcus Wandell, Anttenna's co-founder and chief executive officer. "This year more people will access the Internet on their phones than they will on computers, and smartphones are influencing the very fabric of the Internet with portability, geo-positioning and mobile applications. With the exception of posting ads online and making them searchable, classified ads haven't really evolved all that much since they were introduced 300 years ago; certainly not to the point of harnessing this technology revolution that will see billions of smartphones in use around the world in just a couple of years. Anttenna fully leverages the smartphone platforms and new communications standards to give people a whole new way to use classified advertising. Anttenna delivers a constant stream of hyper-local, real-time listings, always relevant given the moment and location in which they are seen.

Anttenna' free mobile application facilitates real-time, location-based, person-to-person exchanges. By turning traditional classified listings into geo-tagged, twitter-sized microlistings, Anttenna connects people in real time to others nearby through their handhelds. In less than a minute, potential buyers can search through the Anttenna marketplace to find items or services they're looking for, all in proximity to where they are at that moment. Microlistings could include finding a concert ticket on location at a music festival, helping a lost pet reunite with her owner or finding a free sofa that is in need of a good home right down the block.


As Anttenna's co-founder wandered through a music festival in New York City, he wished the various participating vendors could send him information about what they were selling, their locations and any offers they might have to his GPS-enabled smartphone. Realizing that this same sort of problem was repeating itself in ways both large and small, block after block and community after community, the vision for Anttenna was born.

Taking advantage of the reach, openness and familiarity of the Twitter platform, and the exploding popularity of smartphones, Anttenna enables instantaneous, location-aware person-to-person communication and exchange that is efficient and consistent with the "tweet" communication format.

"The feedback from people during the Anttenna pilot was overwhelming," said Hunter Jensen, Anttenna's co-founder and chief technology officer. "These early Anttenna users loved the ease of use and functionality that comes from seamless integration with the Twitter ecosystem. Leveraging Twitter's platform, we give people the ability to instantly communicate with each other by 'Anttweeting,' with the huge privacy benefit of not having to share personal information such as phone numbers or email addresses."

The concept of community is also central to the company's vision. As a location-based service, Anttenna becomes part of the fabric of the communities it serves. Recognizing and respecting that the role it can play in communities, Anttenna provides tools and services specifically geared towards non-profits and other volunteer-based civic organizations. On the eve of Anttenna's first ever launch party, the Anttenna platform was used to raise awareness and over $1,000 for a San Diego non-profit initiative called "The Campaign for Abandoned Youth," in partnership with the San Diego non-profit, "StayClassy.org," which supports charity causes by providing them with software as a service and social media tools to raise money.

Anttenna also has teamed up with the Muscular Dystrophy Association in several cities to spread the word about the locations of donation collection teams staffed by local firefighters supporting MDA's annual 'Fill The Boot' drive. Anttenna is also partnering with the group Rock 'n Renew to drive its New York City Healthy Food for Healthy Communities program, designed to give inner city students from low income families the tools and knowledge to start community gardens and share in the benefits of what those gardens produce.


Anttenna intends to build out its category verticals by striking meaningful national distribution partnerships for each category. For example, the founders of Anttenna and adoptapet.com are currently figuring out how to blend their services to better tackle local animal shelter overpopulation by connecting Anttenna users with animals that need homes, using convenience as the catalyst. Using Anttenna's "Quick Post Widget" on their website, partners can enhance their site experience by providing their users with a mechanism to tweet about their company for them, with each Quick Post including the company's @mention or #hashtag, an address that places a drop pin on all location-aware twitter apps, and a cross-platform classified look and feel thanks to Anttenna's technology.

"While the commercial applications of Anttenna are incredibly powerful, I am most excited about our 'Community' section," adds Wandell. "Through categories like 'Volunteer,' 'Carpool,' 'Borrow/Lend,' and even 'Couchsurf,' Anttenna has put community first. Above all else, we intend to deliver an invaluable service through which users can connect with one another, find resources, and spread awareness of important efforts across their broader community."

At a local level, Anttenna has struck a partnership with DrinkUPAustin, a local Austin, TX web event company and in San Diego, Anttenna has partnered with Vavi, a local social sports network.

Pricing and Availability:
Anttenna 1.5.1 is free and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Lifestyle category.

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