App Annie might be looking into diversifying its business model as mobile app usage is expected to soon hits its peak, industry analysts suggested.
Since its launch in 2010, the San Francisco-based company has built a popular app store analytics and business intelligence platform, which is widely used by tech experts and media channels to assess metrics, such as app store trends, downloads and rankings.
Now, with its latest Series E funding, in which the company raised $63 million, including $48 million in equity and $15 million in debt funding, questions about the continued success of its business model are being put forth.
“We believe the usage of apps is going to peak here very soon,” Forrester Research Analyst Julie Ask told The Wall Street Journal. “[App Annie] may have plans to build out a roadmap that goes beyond app store analytics.”
However, App Annie CEO Bertrand Schmitt believes that nothing could be further from the truth, as he pointed out to WSJ that app usage was, in fact, growing. “We believe that every business is becoming an app business,” he said.
And App Annie's investors seem to agree, with four of them, including e.ventures, Greycroft Partners, Institutional Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital, participating in funding for the company yet again, bringing its total capital raised to $142 million.
For now, the company seems to be experimenting with new intelligence products to expand its offerings. In 2014, the company launched a free VPN app, which became a new source of app data, WSJ reported. Users who download the app consent to share their usage data from all the apps installed on their devices. The company soon found a use for this data in a new product called Usage Intelligence, which offers insights into in-app activity.
Its VPN app, as WSJ pointed out, now raises the question whether the company could monetize its product beyond its old customer base to ad companies seeking to campaign on mobile app platforms.
