For Geopon, the past year has been all about thinking strategically while moving at the speed of mobile.

Geopon is a coupon, loyalty card and mobile payment solution that won first place in the 2012 Business Plan Challenge FIU Track and the People’s Pick video competition. Geopon’s mobile application allows users to find coupons and weekly deals, earn points or punches in loyalty programs and search restaurant menus, movie show times and mall guides. Its proprietary software allows merchants to target ads geographically, behaviorally and demographically.

Last spring and summer, Geopon was racing to market with its consumer app. Mission accomplished.

The Android Beta version of Geopon is out. “We had a successful launch event at Westfield Broward Mall on Sept. 6 during Fashion’s Night Out. As of today, we have over 3,000 registered beta users,” said Ido Meros, founder and CEO of Hollywood-based Geopon.

A full version of Geopon, including an iPhone app, is complete and just awaiting Apple’s approval, Meros said.

The Geopon team of 12 people also revamped the website that merchants use for managing their coupons and ads, improving functionality and aesthetics. That’s set to roll out Feb. 1.

Looking back on the last year, “our biggest challenge thus far has been the development of the platform,” said Meros, who has founded other businesses including Check21.com and Axis Interactive Media. “There have been many revisions to improve every aspect of Geopon as the development has progressed. There have been quite a few hurdles but the finish line is in our sight.”

Strategic changes were made along the way, he said, particularly with the sales strategy. “Initially, we focused on street sales to increase the merchant base. Today, we are in negotiations with prospective media conglomerates to rapidly increase both the user base and merchant base. We’re focused on building strategic partnerships.”

As with others, funding did not go entirely by plan. “Although we have not yet raised the capital initially sought in our business plan, we did receive a capital infusion, which facilitated the improved development of the platform and began the structure of our sales force.” Meros said he is in talks over a partial acquisition and investment into Geopon.

ESENEM

The co-founders of ESENEM, the second-place winner of the Business Plan Challenge FIU Track last year, made several big changes — starting with the name of their product, an iPhone application that provides a virtual office for lawyers on the go.

The product was called LegalFile; now it is Xibid.

Why Xibid? CEO and co-founder Milana Kuznetsova explains. “Xibid is short for ‘Xibidem,’ which is derived from the the word ‘ibidem,’ meaning ‘in the the same/from the same place.’ This name summarizes precisely what our system offers to our users: uninterrupted access to all data, communication and collaboration while on the go, in a single source... Xibid — staying in the loop while out of the office!”

Now that we have that out of the way, ESENEM has had a busy year. The product formerly known as LegalFile for the iPad was released to the iTunes store in late 2011 and the team evaluated feedback and made revisions. The new and improved Xibid will be released early this year.