Serial entrepreneurs plan 80 hires at fledgling tech firm

Several of the Indianapolis area’s most experienced entrepreneurs and tech executives have joined forces on a digital marketing startup that plans to hire more than 80 workers by 2018.

DemandJump LLC was founded earlier this year in Carmel by Christopher Day and Shawn Schwegman, the firm’s CEO and chief strategy officer, respectively. The firm plans to invest $1.2 million to improve its technology and occupy new space as it creates more than 80 new jobs within three years, Day said Wednesday.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has offered the firm $1.8 million in conditional tax credits and $50,000 in training grants, based on DemandJump’s plans.

The two founders are serial entrepreneurs. Day, 44, was the co-founder and former managing partner of Navidar Group LLC, an investment banking firm that works with technology companies. He also has started and sold several technology-related companies in sectors such as telecommunications, real estate development and energy.

Schwegman, 41, has worked for or advised more than a dozen startups. He was the vice president of marketing and chief technology officer for Overstock.com, and chief marketing officer for Carmel-based ChaCha Search Inc..

They are joined at DemandJump by Chief Operating Officer Frank Dale, the former CEO of Indianapolis-based content marketing firm Compendium and entrepreneur in residence for DeveloperTown.

DemandJump currently has six employees and leased office space at 10401 N. Meridian St. The firm still is evaluating whether it will expand at its current location or search for another headquarters location in the area, Day said.

The average salary of the new hires will be $90,000, Day said. The firm already is interviewing applicants to help fulfill its aggressive expansion plans.

"This is the biggest opportunity I've ever seen," Day said. "The future of marketing is about one thing: digital dominance, period. There is a severe lack of tools when it comes to providing actionable data for marketers."

DemandJump offers a marketing intelligence platform that combines data on customers, competitors and market trends. Users can use the platform to attract new customers, capture market share, select the most appropriate technologies, and best allocate marketing budgets.

“It’s not only about big data. It’s about understanding how to transform that data into specific, insight-rich actions to show marketers strategically what to do next and why,” Day said.