ASX-listed ‘audio version of Twitter’ HearMeOut is set to be in up to one third of new cars on the road, inking a major new deal.
HearMeOut, which lets users post and listen to 42-second sound bites with friends and celebrities, has landed a deal with the SmartDeviceLink (SDL) Consortium, an organisation founded by Toyota and Ford.
It’s a deal that will see the app join the likes of Waze and Spotify in joining cars from Lexus, Mazda, Subaru, Suzuki and more.
“Joining and ultimately supporting SDL validates HearMeOut’s unique value proposition within the connected car space,” HearMeOut boss Moran Chamsi said.
“We look forward to building on our work to date with Ford and extending this to other members of the consortium to offer their drivers the ability to consume hands-free social content.”
SDL chairman Doug VanDagens called the deal a ‘great fit’.
“It’s a promising social audio network that is unique in that it is built to be hands-free from the ground up,” Mr VanDagens said.
“We are excited that HearMeOut has decided to support SDL and become a safe social component into the ecosystem we are creating.”
Mr Chamsi talked up his firm’s US potential in an interview late last year.
“We believe voice will be the driver of the next powerful wave of social media filling the gap between Twitter, Facebook and Vine,” Mr Chamsi said. “People can fake photos or hide behind words, but when you want to say something real — your voice is the best tool to do that.”
“We thought about musicians, politicians, comedians, social activists and millions of people who want to shout something, approach their audience and simply talk to them. This is what inspired us to create HearMeOut — a simple tool to talk to millions. This new platform has a key point of difference in the market, and this is our recognition that people want to be connected at all times — even while in the car.”
The ASX has made a concerted push to attract tech companies to the index over the past year with HearMeOut co-founder Issy Livian recently telling The Australian the visit of a government delegation to Israel last year sowed the seeds for the float.
“The (Australian delegation) came to Israel, they met with us, really liked what we were doing and they flew us over there to meet with potential investors and we got very good vibes,” Mr Livian said.
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