Affiliate marketing has proven to be very profitable and helpful for businesses to get products out the door and into the mind of buyers. Many companies worldwide are using it right now to grow their business by referral with incentive.

iSynergy (ASX: IS3) steps into this scene with a developed online network that bridges the gap between customers and merchants via its affiliate marketing platform. Their proprietary marketing platform is called VTRAK, which is home to more than 40,000 affiliates and 5,000 advertisers, where this platform has been applied to various industries and markets.

After launching its research and development (R&D) labs in March 2022, the Company has shifted its focus to new and emerging technologies to bolster its research on application-level patents. They have been seeking grants to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to further develop their affiliate marketing business. AI-powered affiliate marketing can provide businesses with valuable insights, which leads to growth opportunities. 

IS3 has signed a research agreement with the University of Western Australia (UWA) in their latest project. The deal was established to develop unique software systems where they will receive available CRC-P (Cooperative Research Centres Projects) Grant funding. 

The Company will be working on two new technologies for the grant applications; a Universal Digital Asset Payment Infrastructure and a Social Media Sentiment Analytics and Prediction Platform. The project will research nascent technologies with patents, reports and scientific papers. 

IS3 will pay $49,487 to UWA for the project over two instalments, but anything developed by the Company will remain intellectual property of iSynergy. If successful, the grants will equal $3 million for each grant provided by the Australian Government. This grant is supported by the government for businesses to develop products and conduct research into new concepts which is applicable for small to medium enterprises. If not successful, the grants are not guaranteed if material developments are not provided with their research. IS3 will have to submit a final report and scientific papers into their developments by April 2023. 

“The current market service offerings are fragmented in terms of payments and marketplaces. The aim of the sponsored research project is to enable the seamless and pragmatic use of applications which are able to be combined and produce positive results for a growing digital market,” commenting on the announcement, Executive Director, Kevin Coutinho. 

During the last financial year, Company revenue experienced a decline of 77.2%, from $8.4m to $1.9m. The fall was mainly due to the ongoing pandemic, which impacted the income stream from software activation, licence rights and program fees from signing on new affiliates. 

IS3 shares rocketed 690% to a high of $0.365 from $0.045 in March 2022 after the news of the launch of their R&D labs. Since then, however, shares pulled back 80% to $0.06, and in light of the recent announcements, shares have rallied to $0.096 at the time of writing.