Location-based mobile marketing company Verve has acquired the German push marketing firm matchinguu. Verve plans to integrate matchinguu’s proximity-based push and in-app notification solution into its Velocity platform to enable its clients to reach new European audiences with “enhanced mobile advertising experiences”.

Verve said that the matchinguu solution will also bolster its developer toolkit to help brands interact with their known customers within their owned and operated mobile apps. The resulting audience data will provide additional context that can be used to reach those same customers in other third party apps through the Verve Velocity platform.

The acquisition fast-tracks Verve’s expansion into Europe, with integration of the Verve SDK into major mobile apps throughout Germany, where matchinguu is already used. The second largest advertising market in Western Europe, Germany’s mobile ad spend is expected to reach $3.5bn (£2.7bn) in 2017.

“The acquisition came naturally, thanks to the complementary technologies and both parties having similar missions: enabling great storytelling through location-powered data,” said Ian James, general manager international at Verve. “We are opening the doors to Germany’s foremost push technology; working together will make our offering even stronger for our clients and bring Verve firmly into the heart of Europe. Consumers demand relevance and engagement that is as seamless as possible and this acquisition will empower us to deliver this more than ever.”