Shares in Tinybeans (ASX: TNY) — proprietor of the privacy focused family-photo sharing app — have been on a tear this year.

And after signing a series of commercial deals which got the market excited, the company today rolled out a new machine learning tool for data analytics.

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Investors initially applauded the news, with shares in TNY up more than five per cent in morning trade before edging back into negative territory on the day.

Big data for the win

Tinybeans has found a niche in the market by providing a platform to share family photos while maintaining a strong focus on privacy and security.

It reported strong user growth for its photo-sharing app throughout 2018, with active users totaling 1.1 million by the end of December.

As user growth climbs, so does the amount of customer data that can be analysed with a view towards monetisation. Hence, its new machine learning product, which it says has the capacity to analyse north of 200 million data points.

The company emphasised that customer privacy remains a strong priority, which means analysis of consumer patterns — “what brands are craving” – is carried out while its user base remains totally anonymous.

“A U.S. based division of a multinational confectionery, food, and beverage company has begun a paid pilot of this new capability in recent weeks with powerful results,” Tinybeans said.

CEO Eddie Geller said the ML capability would allow Tinybeans to offer strategic value “beyond traditional advertising partnerships”, allowing companies to enact more effective plans around product development.

While user growth crept higher in the March quarter to 1.14 million, it was the announcement of a commercial deal with Lego which saw the Tinybeans’ stock price surge in mid April.

The company signed a 12-month advertising contract with the toy-making giant, targeting parents in the US market. Shares in TNY immediately rocketed from 40 cents to 70 cents following the news.
 

In other ASX tech news today

It’s been a big morning for Quantify Tech (ASX:QFY), the Internet of Things (IOT) hardware company that struggled for traction in recent years. Shares in the company shot up by more than 30 per cent to 1.2 cents after it announced an exclusive distribution agreement with Harvey Norman.

The retail franchise will become the sole distributor of QFY’s smart-home hardware products for the Australian east coast, starting with a $500,000 order. The deal takes QFY’s outstanding purchase orders to a total of $1.2m.
 
And electronic payments platform InPayTech (ASX: IP1) had some news regarding its recent share entitlmeent offer. It turned to investors on April 10 with the aim of raising $1.544m, but as of Friday it only raised $571,000 of the $774,000 retail component.

However, IP1 announced that its directors and largest shareholder had committed to underwrite any shortfall. Shares in IP1 were unchanged at 1.3 cents.