Nickelytics is a U.S.-based AdTech startup connecting brands with everyday drivers through vehicle-based advertising. The challenge revolved around their need for a fast and professional engineering team capable of rebuilding and scaling their core system, a request that brought BlueGrid.io into the project as a trusted, field-proven software partner.
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Challenge

Nickelytics required a complete overhaul of their technology stack to support a complex ecosystem: a driver-facing mobile app, an advertiser portal, and a backend capable of processing vast amounts of real-time location and campaign data. However, the existing codebase lacked structure, error handling, and performance optimization, therefore limiting scalability and feature development.

Solution

BlueGrid.io assembled a dedicated development team that worked alongside Nickelytics for 12 months, focusing on two key streams:

Frontend Development

Our frontend engineer built cross-platform mobile applications (iOS & Android) using React Native. The app allowed drivers to earn by wrapping their vehicles with brand ads. It tracked traveled distances, analyzed driving zones (urban, suburban, rural), and calculated estimated ad impressions. The system automatically matched this data to campaigns, enabling transparent billing for advertisers and earnings for drivers. In addition, an Ad Manager Portal was developed in React, providing advertisers with real-time campaign analytics, impression tracking, and performance dashboards.

Backend Development

Our backend engineer led a major refactor and migration from MongoDB to PostgreSQL, establishing a well-structured, maintainable architecture. The system was consolidated into a monolithic structure, improving code consistency and deployment.

Furthermore, using Node.js and NestJS, we integrated StreetMetrics API for campaign and telemetry synchronization, built an MQTT data ingestion layer for real-time updates from vehicles and robots, and implemented AWS Kinesis Firehose for scalable data pipelines. As a result, the team further enhanced performance by implementing Redis caching, job queues, and Datadog observability.

Finally, they automated the infrastructure using Terraform, ArgoCD, and GitLab CI to ensure continuous delivery and cost-efficient scaling.

Results

Nickelytics’ new ecosystem became significantly faster, easier to maintain, and capable of real-time performance tracking across thousands of vehicles and devices. The collaboration not only stabilized the platform but positioned it for scalable growth in the fast-evolving AdTech landscape.

Tech Stack: React, React Native, Node.js, NestJS, PostgreSQL, Redis, MQTT, Jest, GitLab, AWS, Terraform, ArgoCD, Datadog.