AppOnboard Raises $15 Million, Angles to Reinvent App Store
*By Tracey Cheek*
AppOnboard is looking to reinvent the app store by letting users instantly experience an app or game without having to download it. The company just raised $15 million in funding, bringing its total to $30 million this year.
“We’re really excited to really re-invent the way that users consume apps,” Bryan Buskas, AppOnboard's chief operating officer told Cheddar on Thursday. He said the new funding will focus on two things: international expansion, including into Europe and China, and improvements in the platform.
he two co-founders, Jonathan Zweig and Adam Piechowicz, developed 14 of the first 100 iOS apps when the App Store first launched. Their goal for AppOnboard is to deliver on demand app experiences for Android users.
“Consumer expectations are \[that\] at the push of a button you get a car or you get a pizza, and everything is on demand,” said Buskas. “But if you look at the app stores, it really is the last place of digital content where you’re expected to download a full file before you even try something out.”
Google Play users are not the only ones who can benefit from using AppOnboard,. Buskas said the app also offers product insights for developers.
“The data we see is that consumers who use the 'try now' button and experience the app before they commit to the full download have 30 percent better retention, better monetization ー its a lift across kind of all metrics because you’re pre-qualifying the user into an experience that they know they want,” Buskas said. “We’re excited to think all app stores in the world will someday be like this.”
Apps have grown five times larger since 2012, and larger files lead to lower conversion rates, slower downloads, higher uninstalls, and lower update rates, according to Google. The “Demo Before Download” company is hoping to combat storage problems that many users face.
“For the biggest apps and games in the world, things like 'Fortnite' are three gigabytes in file size, so that's like 10 minutes just of download it to even get in,” Buskas said. “Why can’t you just start playing it right away to see what the fuss is all about?”
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/apponboard-demo-before-you-download).
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