Mobile marketing firm to add 40 employees

SARASOTA — Mobile marketing technology firm MobileBits Corp. plans to hire 40 employees over the next three years and expand its facility by 2,000 square feet.

The firm, now with fewer than 10 employees, has an office in the IntegraClick Business Center in north Sarasota County. The hires and expansion are aided by a performance-based incentive grant from Sarasota County for $120,000, according to a release. MobileBits seeks sales, marketing and customer service professionals, in addition to software developers. The firm, publicly traded over the counter, had $1.53 million in revenues for the nine-month period that ended July 31, according to public filings. That's up 295.5% from $386,887 for the nine months that ended July 31, 2012.

“MobileBits chose to stay and expand in Sarasota because compared to other regions that support technology companies, the Sarasota area offers a superior active lifestyle at a much lower cost of living,” MobileBits CEO and President Walter Kostiuk says in a release. “It is our hope that MobileBits will help fuel the growing technology ecosystem of Sarasota, making this area an attractive place for young, educated professionals to consider when beginning their careers.”

Kostiuk adds that “receiving a performance-based incentive grant from Sarasota County was another important factor.”

County and economic development officials praised the company's decision. “We were thrilled to be able to help a successful technology company such as MobileBits stay and thrive in Sarasota,” Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County President and CEO Mark Huey says in the statement. “These are the types of jobs that will help drive the economic future of Sarasota County.”

MobileBits operates a mobile marketing and shopping application. The app, Samy, helps merchants, retailers and brands connect with consumers in their local area. Kostiuk, who helped launch an app division for BlackBerry when he worked for the mobile phone's Canadian-based parent company in the 1990s, founded MobileBits in 2009. He has since raised at least $8 million to support the firm's growth.