KillBiller firm shifts focus

Irish software company Edgetier is targeting the UK market as it shifts focus to signing up mobile operators for its analytics product. The company was formerly known as KillBiller, and developed an app that would allow mobile users to find the best phone deal depending on their usage.

But its founders decided a new name was needed if they were to grow the business outside their home market.

"We found operators were getting too hung up on the KillBiller app," said cofounder Bart Lehane. "It got in the way of discussions."

The company’s original business model was lead-generation, something Lehane describes as a win-win. “The consumers win because they get a good deal; the operators get a new customer. We would take a slice of that,” he said.

Continuing on that line of business would have meant investing a huge amount in marketing, he said, pointing to the campaigns run by Compare The Market and other comparison sites in the UK. “As a team and a company we’re far more suited to analytics.”

Now it’s about using Edgetier’s data to help mobile operators manage and understand customers better.

“We will still push the KillBiller brand. It’s still solving a problem for people,” he said. “The KillBiller app in its current form is very much price focused. Some people are looking for the best coverage for them, or the best handset.”