Dive Brief:

• Beacon marketing startup Swirl raised $18 million in its latest funding round, which included investments from companies such as Twitter and SoftBank Capital. 
• The company provides a technology that allows retailers to send consumers push notifications based on proximity information provided by beacons. 
• The latest round of funding was led by Hearst Ventures, and brings Swirl’s total funding to date to $32 million. 

Dive Insight:

Twitter is among the latest companies to invest in Swirl, a startup that specializes in delivering relevant ads to in-store shoppers based on beacon data. The company helps retailers send push notifications such as coupons and content to smartphones within a defined area.

While Twitter doesn’t offer Swirl technology on its platform yet, integration could go a long way toward advancing opt-in for beacon-based marketing. Rival Facebook is also interested in beacons’ proximity potential, and has been testing a system that supplies users with information about the places they visit since January.