X Mode Social is a technology company.
X Mode Social has raised $4.0M across 1 funding round.
X Mode Social has raised $4.0M in total across 1 funding round.
X Mode Social has raised $4.0M in total across 1 funding round.
X Mode Social's investors include Chicago Ventures, Grotech Ventures, Origin Ventures.
X-Mode Social, Inc. (commonly known as X-Mode) is a technology company founded in 2013 (or 2015 per some sources) and based in Reston, Virginia, specializing in collecting and providing high-accuracy, real-time smartphone location data.[1][2][3] It builds a first-party, privacy-conscious location data platform via a software development kit (SDK) embedded in over 300 mobile apps (such as games, travel guides, and dating sites), tracking precise geolocation from 50-100 million monthly active users every 5-7 minutes, covering about 10% of the U.S. population daily.[2][3][5] The company serves advertisers, financial services, healthcare, high-tech, real estate, retail, and public sector clients by powering location intelligence for targeted advertising, business decisions, and even national security or pandemic-related applications, while paying app developers $0.03 per U.S. user monthly to incentivize integration.[2][3] Acquired by Digital Envoy in August 2021 and rebranded as Outlogic, it faced scrutiny from Apple and Google in 2021 over privacy concerns, leading to mandates for app developers to remove its SDK.[2][3]
X-Mode was founded by Joshua Anton, a University of Virginia student, stemming from his earlier app "Drunk Mode," a free mobile tool launched to prevent drunk dialing or texting, which garnered over one million downloads.[2] Anton pivoted by collecting anonymized location data from Drunk Mode users to resell to advertisers, establishing X-Mode in 2013 (with some profiles listing 2015) in Reston, Virginia.[1][2] Early traction came from its SDK model, paying developers for integration—e.g., offering $100,000 to the Scruff dating app in 2018 (which was declined)—scaling to over 400 apps, 25 million U.S. users, and 40 million worldwide.[2] Investors including Bread & Butter Ventures, Realm Capital Ventures, Astir Ventures, NWQ Ventures, and Origin Ventures fueled growth, with the company raising undisclosed funds and reporting ~$8.9 million in revenue by some estimates.[1][3] A pivotal moment was its 2021 acquisition by Digital Envoy, shifting to Outlogic amid rising privacy regulations.[2]
X-Mode rides the explosive growth of location intelligence, a market fueled by mobile ubiquity, where precise geodata enables hyper-targeted ads, supply chain optimization, and public health tracking—projected to underpin trillions in economic value as 5G and IoT amplify real-time needs.[3] Timing was ideal post-2013 smartphone boom, but headwinds from GDPR, CCPA, and Apple's App Tracking Transparency (2021) exposed risks, prompting its acquisition and rebrand amid broker crackdowns.[2][3] It influences the ecosystem by incentivizing developers to share data, improving overall location accuracy while highlighting tensions between innovation and privacy—e.g., supplying U.S. government contractors during pandemics.[2][3] This positions it (as Outlogic) to shape compliant data marketplaces amid rising demand for ethical alternatives.
X-Mode's pivot to Outlogic post-acquisition signals adaptation to privacy-first eras, likely focusing on consented, high-fidelity datasets for AI-driven analytics in retail foot traffic, urban planning, and personalized marketing.[2][6] Trends like edge computing, federated learning, and zero-party data will propel growth, but regulatory scrutiny (e.g., Texas geolocation laws) demands transparent opt-ins to avoid bans.[3][6] Its influence may evolve from controversial tracker to trusted infrastructure player, empowering apps with revenue while fueling location-based AI—potentially scaling to global dominance if it navigates enforcement. This evolution from a student app hack to ecosystem shaper underscores how raw data innovation drives tech's location revolution.[1][2]
X Mode Social has raised $4.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $4.0M Series A in November 2018.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 2018 | $4.0M Series A | Chicago Ventures, Grotech Ventures, Origin Ventures |