It's no secret--the mobile app industry is booming, and that means tons of new companies are cropping up to provide the latest innovations in mobile technology.
With nearly six billion mobile subscribers worldwide--that's 87 percent of the world's population--and 300,000 apps developed in just the past three years, it's no wonder entrepreneurs are looking to jump into the booming market. A few key startups have emerged in the industry, latching onto the opportunity to innovate with new technologies and potentially create a major name for themselves in the coming years.
Check out these five promising companies that are already transforming the mobile industry:
1. StartApp
StartApp, a mobile search engine specializing in the monetization of Android apps, recently landed $4.3 million in startup funding. The Israeli startup, founded in 2010, partners with app developers to help them to monetize their free applications.
Here's how it works: when users download a StartApp-integrated app, a new search icon appears on their home screen. Whenever the icon is used for a search, StartApp generates revenue, and developers get a cut. In July 2012, StartApp announced its platform had been downloaded half a billion times. As more and more developers look for ways to profit from the mobile boom, StartApp is one company helping along the way.
2. Codename One
With a variety of mobile platforms available--from the iPhone to Android to Blackberry--developers often struggle to create apps that work across each different device.
That's why Codename One has developed open-source software to save developers the time and resources it takes to get their apps launched. The software allows developers to write code for a mobile application only once in Java and have it work across all platforms--iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone 7, and J2ME devices. By streamlining the code writing process, Codename One is helping entrepreneurs to dramatically improve their mobile efforts.
3. Jibe Mobile
Founded in 2006 with $9.1 million in startup funding, Jibe Mobile previously offered a mobile app for sharing information on social networking sites. Since then, the company has shifted gears to focus on developing a platform for app developers to add real-time features to their apps, including video chatting, multiplayer social gaming features, and VoIP calls. The platform allows developers to integrate a video calling feature (akin to Skype) into their apps quickly.
With offices in London, Tokyo, Mountain View, and Dusseldorf, the company's global presence means it will continue to be a leader in mobile app development throughout 2013.
4. Trademob
Founded in 2010, Trademob is a startup that provides a mobile app marketing platform to help advertisers win high app store rankings for their apps. Boasting $15 million in startup funding, the company provides two different technologies to help app developers. One is tracking for mobile app marketing campaign to help developers learn where they're getting traffic--email, Facebook, websites, etc--to better understand their performance. Trademob also offers optimization technology that helps developers to increase ROI.
By helping to make apps more visible in the overcrowded market, Trademob is helping companies to snag more downloads and win active users.
5. Flurry
Launched in 2005, Flurry helps companies to build, measure, advertise, and monetize their mobile applications. The company boasts $50.5 million in total startup funding and has offices in San Francisco, New York, and London. It also recently acquired startup Trestle.
Flurry's AppSpot platform helps developers to generate advertising revenue for their apps. It leverages a data set collected from an impressive 700 million mobile devices each month through Flurry Analytics. By helping app developers to better target their key audiences, Flurry stands to dramatically impact the monetization of the mobile app industry.
As the mobile market gains steam, these are just a few companies that serve to revolutionize the way we develop, market, and monetize our mobile apps. Keep your eye on these companies as they continue to innovate in 2013.