Start-Up Quattro Aims to Adapt Web Sites to Mobile Devices

Mobile start-up Quattro is proposing to do the heavy lifting for publishers eager to convert their Web site content for use on mobile devices, and will operate an ad network consisting of those mobile sites. The firm recently closed a new $6 million round of funding led by Highland Capital Partners.

Quattro was founded last year by the founders of m-Qube, an early mobile firm that was sold to VeriSign. Quattro CEO Andy Miller has joined with Lars Albright, vice president of business development, and CTO Eswar Priyadarshan, to get back into the mobile space.

Quattro’s goal is to help online publishers to take their standard Web site content and let Quattro adapt it to mobile devices using its Quattro Wireless platform, said Miller. Its business model revolves around providing mobile ads to be placed on those sites, and sharing the revenue from them.

“We built some technology to pull content directly from the wired Web source of our partner, and we allow them to pick and choose what they want to adapt to the mobile Web,” said Miller. “With the premier publishers, who have a significant sales force, they assign a percentage of the display [inventory] to sell, and we share some of the revenue there.”

Although Quattro is just over a year old, it’s already landed several large content publishers looking to expand their mobile presence, including Spanish language site Univision MÓvil and its Univisionmovil.com site, as well as P&G Beauty products Covergirl line and Pure Video’s StupidVideos.com.