James Messer, CEO and founder of goTransverse
The Austin-based company is providing STARZ Play with a billing system that allows the media company to provide service to up to 385 million media consumers in 17 countries across the Middle East and North Africa.
goTransverse creates billing software, called TRACT, that lets companies charge based on subscription and usage. Its system also can handle billing for different countries with ease, said James Messer, the company’s founder and CEO. The cloud-based billing and revenue automation platform allows STARZ Play to sell direct to consumers through partners, such as international wireless telecom carriers, as well as explore new revenue models based on customer usage.
The Middle East has large numbers of mobile phone users, which makes the region a good fit for an up and coming method of watching and paying for TV, Messer said.
“We manage the whole back end,” Messer said. In the past, it used to be remarkably difficult to build this on the backend, he said. But now goTransverse’s system is programmed to handle revenue recognition and compliance issues for different countries around the world.
goTransverse works with a wide range of international and local companies to help them maximize their revenue streams based on usage and consumption, Messer said. They can provide tiered billing plans similar to telecommunications companies, he said.
“People want to only pay for what they consume,” Messer said.
GoTransverse moved to Austin from New York in April of 2008. The company has 75 employees and is based in the Sampson Building at 620 Congress. It is hiring a lot of sales staff and plans to double in size in the next year, Messer said.
Last fall, goTransverse received a $25 million investment from German private equity firm Siedentopf KG, bringing its total investment to date to $47 million. The company used the funds to further develop its TRACT platform.
