AppGratis™ Secures 1 Million New Users since U.S. Launch with Tailored App Discovery Recommendations
PARIS – Jan. 17, 2012 – AppGratis today announced a $13.5M Series A funding round led by Iris Capital, a leading pan-European venture capital investor specialized in digital economy, with participation from the Orange Publicis Fund. AppGratis makes it easier for consumers to discover quality apps in a crowded App Store, and has seen early success by working closely with mobile app developers to offer an undiscovered paid app for free every 24 hours. The company currently averages over $1M in monthly revenue and will use the funding to further establish their stronghold as the worldwide leader in app discovery. A true global brand with 7 million users in over 30 countries and employees from twelve nations, AppGratis will be investing in top talent, expanding research and development efforts, and refining their technology as they continue to expand internationally.
“AppGratis is a champion in the fast-growing app-marketing market, which is expected to be worth $25 billion by 2015,” said Sophie Dingreville, Partner at Iris Capital. “The AppGratis team has built a successful, profitable business in a short period of time and they are in a strong position to become the global leader in app discovery.”
AppGratis offers a unique and validated approach to app discovery, regularly sending featured apps to the top five and beyond in the App Store as a consequence of increased general interest. Originally an email newsletter that founder Simon Dawlat shared among friends, AppGratis has since expanded into an app discovery service available around the world. The platform has maintained its personalized tone, and thanks to feedback buttons and advanced algorithms, recommendations improve over time to accommodate each consumer’s personal preferences.
AppGratis also announced that they have seen great momentum in the New Year, now averaging over 100,000 new users per day worldwide, and up to 300,000 users on peak days. The app is available for iPad and iPhone in 12 languages, in over 120 countries, and quickly topped the App Store charts after launching in the U.S. in December. The daily-deals app service is ranked in the Top 10 overall in the U.S., #2 in the UK and is ranked in the Top 10 in over 30 countries worldwide. AppGratis delivered over 100 million referral clicks to the App Store last year, helping connect developers with the right users looking for new video, music, games or productivity apps.
“We’re helping developers build visibility for their apps at a time when the App Store can seem overwhelming with choices,” said AppGratis founder Simon Dawlat. “Our app recommendations are tailored over time to user preferences, which drives high success rates. When we feature an app, we can deliver over 500k app downloads that day. It’s a win-win for both developers and consumers.”
“AppGratis featured our app, iFunFace, in January, and really moved the needle for us,” said Jean François Mitchell, CEO of DryGin Studios. “We saw over 550,000 downloads in one day and were boosted to the #1 spot in the App Store in over a dozen countries.”
Download AppGratis today at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/appgratis-1-free-app-day-other/id565956236?mt=8.
For more information about AppGratis, visit http://appgratis.com/.
Follow AppGratis on Twitter at https://twitter.com/appgratis.
About AppGratis
AppGratis was founded in 2011 by Simon Dawlat from a weekly email newsletter shared among friends featuring his top app picks. It has since grown to a multimillion-dollar company with offices in Brazil, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, and plans to expand to England and the United States in 2013. With approximately 1 million unique daily visitors, AppGratis is becoming the premier daily free app service that focuses on entertainment and productivity apps as well as games.
Media Contact
Rich Jones, TriplePoint for AppGratis
rjones@triplepointpr.com
(212) 730-9744