Over the past few months, we’ve quietly gone back to stealth mode working on our business model and strategic plan for the coming year. We learned a lot from our short pilot at Purdue University, got amazing advice from our mentors, and even enlisted the help of some top-notch business students. I’m happy to announce that we’ve emerged from our cave with two major developments to share.

First, we’ve signed an exclusive agreement with CST Research in Minneapolis to help develop our global distribution network. CST Research will be responsible for bringing the Coupious mobile advertising platform to large markets starting with the Minneapolis/St. Paul area (one of my favorite cities!) One of the major hurdles of operating a mobile coupon service is accumulating the amount of coupon inventory necessary to be truly useful to consumers and thus, in turn, be a compelling medium for advertisers. With the help of CST Research, we will be able to tap into existing sales channels at a speed much faster than what we could do alone, and we’re excited to work together on this front.

Secondly, after much demand, we’ve decided to make our technology available for licensing and integration. Mobile coupons present interesting challenges for marketers, particularly with management, fraud, and tracking. Companies looking into mobile coupons, either as a service provider or as part of a larger mobile marketing campaign, can reuse our technology rather than building it from scratch to help mitigate some of these challenges. Visit the new Platform Licensing page to learn more.

Since our launch last March, we’ve gotten a lot of great feedback from our users and potential users. On the technical front, we’re tackling all of these issues right now – you asked for improved app performance, so our next release is going to be about 75% faster. iPod Touch users asked for a “save to phone” feature for coupon use away from Wi-Fi, so that’s under development, also (for all platforms). You wanted alphabetical results sorting, and you’re getting it.

The other question we hear on a regular basis is non-technical, “when will Coupious be available in my area?” We’re busy working on that side of things, as well. To ensure you have the best experience using the app, we need to be sure businesses are on the same page. Here is exactly what we don’t want to see happen: “Bogus cell phone coupons baffle retailers“. We partner directly with merchants so you never get turned away at the cash register, and if it does happen, we want to know about it so we can remedy the problem.

Rest assured that we are working hard to bring you more and more valuable offers, and we’re thinking bigger than just a few merchants in a few cities across the country. In addition to local expansion, we’re busy establishing partnerships with companies that already distribute thousands of coupons every year. When Coupious does reach your area, it’s only going to feature 100% legitimate coupons, and lots of them. Stay tuned…

We’re proud to announce that as of 9 p.m. on Mar 24, Coupious is live in the iTunes App Store. We’ve collected exclusive offers for about 20 merchants at Purdue, and we’re adding more weekly. Here is a showcase of just some of our partnered businesses:

… and many more when you download the app!

We’re anxious to add more offers, improve the app, and add the features you want. So after you give Coupious a try, send us your feedback — we’d love to know what you think.

Coupious for your phone:

We realize a lot of you don’t have iPhone or Android phones and we’re working hard to bring Coupious to other platforms. Our next slated release is a BlackBerry app for the Pearl, Curve, Bold, and Storm BlackBerry phones. Unfortunately at this time we don’t have a release date to announce. Also in the pipeline are Windows Mobile and Palm versions.

Expansion:

A lot of you have asked when Coupious will be available for businesses in your town. Don’t worry, our plans are to expand the service nationwide, bringing together a blend of national chains and local favorites. The purpose of the Purdue pilot is really to work out any kinks in the system. We’ll have more details about our national rollout in the near future. I wish I could say more, but just know that we’re as anxious as you are…