Israeli incubator thetime and online advertiser Matomy Media have provided $2.1m in “pre-A” funding to app developer UppSite. The seed-funding venture round also saw additional support from private investors.
The Israeli-based startup has raised $2.7m to date. It previously received $550,000 in incubation funding from thetime prior to its seed round, according to VentureBeat. Both thetime and Matomy are owned by Ilan Shiloach, chairman of advertising company McCann Erickson Israel, a subsidiary of marketing and communications company McCann Worldgroup.
UppSite, who launched back in April 2010, plan to use the funding to open an office in San Francisco.
Ilan Shiloach said, “We are very happy with UppSite’s success led by the CEO and entrepreneur Gal Brill, chairman Edo Polak and the exceptional team who are helping to bring the world into the mobile era.”
The deal comes after several large leaps forward for UppStart, culminating in the launch of their website-to-app technology at DEMO. UppStart were invited by Automattic, who own WordPress.com, to be a part of the WordPress VIP Featured Partners Program launched at the event.
“We believe that any web publisher should have the best mobile presence out there, no matter its size” said UppSite CEO Gal Brill. “With this new investment we will take a foothold in Silicon Valley by establishing an office in the Bay Area. Additionally, we will now be able to reach larger clients and develop our excellent product even further by adding new and exciting features; the future of UppSite looks very bright.”
UppSite’s app allows users to automatically convert a website or blog to an app suitable for smartphones and tablets within a couple of minutes for free.