Thanks to skyrocketing sales of the Android platform amongst smart-phone users, independent mobile app retailer GetJar has scored $25 million in venture capital from such angels as Tiger Global Management and Accel Partners. With previous investments, the total amount that GetJar has raised to create a serious Android market outlet has surpassed over $40 million. The venture funds will enable GetJar to expand sales, marketing and engineering in order to create a leading Android app portal in a rapidly growing retail market of Android based app stores.
GetJar already has a head start on the competition, however, with over 1.5 billion app downloads reported. Competitors to GetJar’s dominance in the Android marketplace include Amazon, Wholesale Application Community (an alliance of dozens of smaller app concerns) and app suggestion sites like AppBrain.
And while the retailer plans to ride the Android wave to retail dominance, they are also expanding out to both Blackberry and iOS platforms, seeking to bleed off some of the success tha Apple has enjoyed with well over 10 billion app downloads since 2008.
And the venture capital that GetJar has secured has put them well on the way to accomplishing both goals.
[via Gigaom]
At http://www.theVCwire.com, we think that companies like GetJar which essentially have the first mover advantage and a great customer base built already is a sign of success.
Add to it the fact that they are in a business which lets face it – is smokin’ hot just adds to their sex appeal!
We wish them all the best!