Applicaster, a New York-based cloud platform for app development and content distribution, announced it has raised $20 million in a growth round of funding. And the company announced the hiring of several strategic key executives. This funding round was led by Viola Growth and included further investment from 83 North, Pitango, Saban Ventures, and Planven Investments.
Applicaster’s flagship product — which is a SaaS app management platform called Zapp — includes everything that brands need for prototyping, developing, and maintaining direct-to-consumer apps across phones, tablets, and connected TV devices. The clients working with Applicaster are able to reduce costs, increase audience engagement, improve the time-to-market and innovate quickly in order to stay ahead of the competition.
“In the past year, we’ve seen tremendous growth,” said Applicaster CEO Jonathan Laor in a statement. “As the public continues to consume content in various ways – whether that’s on a TV screen, through a mobile app or widget – brands must consider how to increase their business capabilities to match this constant evolution and reach their audiences in creative ways. At Applicaster, we’re eager to continue working with content providers to ultimately ensure viewers are engaged and receptive.”
With this funding round, the company is going to expand its global presence and product set while ensuring that media brands are able to extend their capabilities and deliver engaging digital media experiences across various platforms.
“The way we consume media changes everyday, and content providers must continually innovate to ensure they are reaching their audiences in a relevant and timely manner,” added Viola Growth partner Eran Westman — who is also joining the company’s board of directors. “Applicaster brings speed and accessibility to these companies in an autonomous way, and has positioned itself to grow and evolve with their clients and the industry. We believe the category will continue to grow and that Applicaster, with its agnostic, flexible and robust platform, will be the natural partner.”
Prior to raising this funding round, Applicaster made several key hires to set themselves up for continued success. The new hires include Jim Bennette and Mark Cokes. Bennette was previously the VP of Business Development at Nokia and Director of Business Development at Adobe. And Cokes was brought on as the VP of Marketing — who also worked as the VP of Product and Corporate Marketing at Ooyala.
Applicaster is used for powering the creation and optimization of customized end-user app experiences for the largest media companies and premium content providers. Using the Zapp SaaS platform, companies are able to prototype, develop, and launch apps while utilizing OTT services and integrating key functionalities into third-party apps.
