'Changing the Way Consumers Engage With Content': AskTipster Founders Look To Leverage Technology, Augmented Reality

Andrew Duplessie and Daniel Taylor, founders at AskTipster, a social media company, spoke with Benzinga about their aims to build out the DTX empowerment ecosystem, in addition to improving how people interact with stories. 

Background

Launched in 2015, the New York fintech started out as a customer acquisition tool that bridged the gap between the brand, influencer and customer through personal styling and beauty advice.

After its involvement with StartX, a non-profit accelerator associated with Stanford University, AskTipster molded into a social growth and customer acquisition engine.

In early 2019, Tim Armstrong, CEO at direct-to-consumer company DTX, acquired AskTipster as part of a broader strategy to increase engagement and efficiency in the social and digital customer acquisition space.

Recent Developments

“We built a digital collectibles platform that distributes and hosts animation files,” Taylor said.

The two AskTipster founders — alongside their work with DTX — are building an augmented reality system.

“You can bring stories to life, visually,” Taylor said. 

This development comes as a complement to existing content delivery solutions.

Duplessie and Taylor, who is dyslexic, want to give people with disabilities the ability to learn, express and interact with content outside of traditional methods of delivery.

It’s an effort to “revolutionize the way people interact with stories — leveraging cellphone and security tokens to efficiently distribute those AR files,” Taylor said. 

Want to hear from leading fintech companies transforming the industry? Check out the 5th Annual Benzinga Fintech Awards on Nov. 19 in NYC. Get your tickets here before they sell out! 

Next Steps

Duplessie said that in the near-term, AskTipster is part of the DTX team and focusing on adding as much value to it as possible. 

“Beyond that, we’re looking at bringing BlocSide up to scale," Duplessie said.

Last month, BlocSide released an iOS application as part of a larger solution that uses augmented reality, payments, mobile ticketing and blockchain to improve sports fan engagement.

“This application is a universal key for the new generation of P2P sports-based digital assets, applications, and technology,” Thomas Emmanuel, BlocSide's head of product, said in a statement on the development.