Appia, former PocketGear, secured a $10 million investment from Venrock. The company will use the new capital to “accelerate product development” of its open app marketplace and launch app stores for partners around the world. Also as part of the deal, Dev Khare (Vice President at Venrock) will join Appia’s board of directors.
Among its recent successes, Appia counts a deal with Opera Software, maker of the Opera Mini and Opera Mobile web browsers for mobile phones. Moreover, the company has also scored a deal with Telcel, Mexico’s largest operator with 64 million subscribers, to power their Ideas Appstore.
In related news, Appia was ranked #15 on the Wall Street Journal’s list of the top 50 venture-backed companies out of a field of over 5,700 companies.
Commenting on the news, Appia’s founder and CEO Jud Bowman said: “Venrock’s expertise working with entrepreneurs in the mobile and Internet space adds tremendous value to Appia as we continue to gain traction and momentum with our open app marketplace. We are honored that Appia is now a Venrock company.”