App Annie, the largest mobile app data and insights platform, announced that it has closed $63 million in total financing, with majority equity investment led by Greenspring Associates and additional participation from existing investors e.Ventures, Greycroft Partners, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) and Sequoia Capital. App Annie will use the new capital to improve and expand upon its suite of industry-leading products, and further scale global business operations to meet the growing needs of app publishers.
The Series E round of funding was led by new investor Greenspring Associates, a leading venture capital firm with investments in prominent information technology, healthcare and communications companies.
"Greenspring's deep experience and knowledge of the space made them a natural choice to lead the round," said Bertrand Schmitt, co-founder and CEO of App Annie. "It is clear to everyone now that apps are eating the web. This funding will allow us to further scale our business, accelerate the development of our industry-leading products and continue to build out brilliant teams that deliver vital data and insights to help develop the global app economy."
"We've been paying close attention to App Annie's evolution over the past few years and are very impressed with the company's leadership, execution and growth. We look forward to the partnership as they continue to disrupt the mobile space," said Ashton Newhall of Greenspring Associates.
"The App Annie management team has consistently proven that it has the vision and ability to execute a winning strategy in this complex and rapidly evolving market," said Dana Settle, Partner, Greycroft Partners. "We are excited about the amazing momentum the company is experiencing and believe that with this additional capital the company will continue to innovate and maintain its leadership position."
New Board Member
With the company scaling and its focus continued on global expansion, App Annie has also named NetSuite (NYSE: N) CEO Zach Nelson to its Board of Directors. Since joining NetSuite in 2002, Nelson has overseen the company's rise from a start-up through a successful IPO in 2007, to becoming the world's leading provider of cloud computing business management software suites.
"I am very excited, Zach Nelson is a tremendous addition to our board. A pioneer in the SaaS space, he is a strategic leader, personable and charismatic, and will help us elevate App Annie to the next stage of growth," added Schmitt.
"I'm thrilled to be joining the board at App Annie," said Nelson. "I'm excited as well, to be a mentor and partner to Bertrand and his vision of building a world-class SaaS organization focused on empowering all app publishers with the insights and data they need to successfully build and expand their brand and business."
The addition of Nelson to the Board follows a recent succession of high-level strategic executive hires, including Chief Financial OfficerMark Vranesh, Chief Revenue Officer Ted Krantz, and Senior Vice President of Research Danielle Levitas.
Strong Growth
App Annie was recently ranked 10th on Deloitte's 2015 Technology Fast 500 list, posting 5,383 percent revenue growth from 2011 to 2014. To date the company has expanded its global footprint to approximately 425 employees across 15 international offices. App Annie's growth has been fueled by its trusted position as the go-to resource for data and insights on the global app economy, and is used by more than 500,000 app professionals — including 94 of the top 100 publishers—to track performance and inform critical business decisions.
Underscoring the company's commitment to its global community, App Annie continues to invest in its free and premium offerings. The company recently announced support of Apple TV on its free products. Additionally, App Annie is announcing the expansion of its Usage Intelligence offering which now tracks the monthly active users (MAU) of hundreds of thousands of apps across 60 countries, and the addition of unprecedented views into user behaviors and demographics across the globe.
