App Annie, a China-based analytics service for mobile device applications, has closed a $15m round of funding led by Sequoia Capital’s US fund, with participation from existing investors, IDG Capital Partners, the corporate venturing unit of publisher International Data Group, and venture capital firms Greycroft Partners, e.ventures (spun off from Germany-based publisher Bertelsmann) and Infinity Venture Partners.
Funds from the round will be used to accelerate App Annie’s product development, grow its sales and marketing headquarters in San Francisco and expand its global offices across Asia and Europe.
Previouosly, in August 2012, App Annie raised $6m in its series B round from a consortium including IDG Capital Partners alongside venture capital firms Greycroft Partners, e.ventures, Infinity Venture Partners, Kii Capital and angel investor Jarl Mohan.
Tim Lee, partner at Sequoia Capital’s Silicon Valley office, who is joining App Annie’s board, said: “App Annie’s products are a must-have for anyone in the mobile industry. We at Sequoia Capital have been using their tools for years to help identify breakout startups. With a seasoned management team, a world-class product development center and an extremely loyal customer base, App Annie is well-positioned to become the gold standard for analytics in this new digital economy.”
Bertrand Schmitt, chief executive officer of App Annie, said: “When we started App Annie, we had a clear belief that apps were going to completely change the content distribution model, which meant we had an opportunity to reinvent how companies analyzed and extracted useful insights for business use. We’ve done that, our growing customer base shows it and we’re very thankful to them. While we could have easily raised a larger round, our efficient business model gave us the flexibility to take less, which is a testament to our products and the team we’ve built. For us, Sequoia Capital is not only an investor, but also a partner and advisor that will help us accelerate our plans to expand our platform so that all companies can understand the global app and digital content ecosystem.”
Alan Gould, chief executive officer of uSamp, who is joining App Annie’s board, said: “Creating a market data and business intelligence platform that allows companies to extract actionable insights around what consumers are doing on their digital devices is the holy grail of the mobile industry, and App Annie is already delivering results. I’m excited to help them take the company to the next level.”