Applause (software company)

Applause is a venture-funded company that tests software and conducts usability feedback research.

Applause, Inc.
Private
IndustrySoftware Testing
Crowdsourcing
Software Quality Assurance
FoundedAugust 2007
Headquarters
Framingham, Massachusetts
Key people
Doron Reuveni, CEO & Co-founder

Chris Malone, CFO
Tom Bonos, SRO
Lisa Landa, CMO
Rob Mason, SVP of Engineering
Luke Damian, SVP of Go-to-Market Strategy
Kristin Simonini, VP of Product
Mark Granot, GM of Applause Israel

Jan Wolter, GM of Applause EU

[1]
Number of employees
301 FTE
Websitewww.applause.com

The company's headquarters are located in Framingham, Massachusetts. It has additional U.S. locations in San Mateo, California and Seattle, Washington.[2] Its European headquarters are located[3] in Berlin, and it has additional offices in Poland[4] and Israel.

In August 2017, the company announced acquisition by Vista Equity Partners.[5]

History and Acquisitions

The company was originally incorporated under the name uTest in August 2007 by founders Doron Reuveni and Roy Solomon[6] with $2.3M in seed funding from Mesco Ltd. and the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation (MTDC).[7]

  • August 2012: The company acquired an SDK, Apphance, and staff from Polish company Polidea[8][9]
  • January 2014: The company closed a $43 million Series E round of funding, led by Goldman Sachs, bringing its current funding to more than $80 million.[10]
  • May 2014: The company changed its name to Applause[11] concurrent with the acquisition of German testing company Testhub, which became Applause's European headquarters.[12]
  • September 2016: The company closed a $35 million Series F round of funding,[13] led by Credit Suisse with investment also from strategic partner Accenture, bringing its current funding to more than $115 million.

Applause subsequently repurposed the uTest brand as a community of professional testers. Growing to more than 400,000 testers,[14] uTest relaunched as a brand of Applause App. Quality, Inc. in 2015 with an updated site as a social network for software testers.[15]

Product

Applause provides testing services, usability feedback and research. Notable customers include Facebook, Google, Fox Broadcasting, eBay, Concur and Runkeeper.

Facebook Research App involvement

[16]

gollark: It says "or", so no you don't.
gollark: Nope, the potatOS privacy policy does *not* require me to so I won't.
gollark: Oh, I should add that.
gollark: > By using potatOS, agreeing to be bound by these terms, misusing potatOS, installing potatOS, reading about potatOS, knowing about these terms, knowing anyone who is bound by these terms, disusing potatOS, reading these terms, or thinking of anything related to these terms, you agree to be bound by these terms both until the last stars in the universe burn out and the last black holes evaporate and retroactively, arbitrarily far into the past.
gollark: You are, it says so.

References
  1. "Applause Management". Applause, Inc. Archived from the original on 2016-02-29. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  2. "Boston mobile app testing firm Applause establishes offices in Seattle area" (August 11, 2014): http://www.geekwire.com/2014/boston-mobile-app-testing-firm-applause-establishes-offices-seattle-area/
  3. "App Tester uTest/Applause Acquires German's Testhub To Grow Its Presence In Europe"(May 5, 2014):https://techcrunch.com/2014/05/05/applause-buys-testhub/
  4. "UTest Acquires Apphance In 7-Figure Deal As Mobile Developer Tools Consolidate" (August 15, 2012):https://techcrunch.com/2012/08/15/utest-acquires-apphance-in-7-figure-deal-as-mobile-developer-tools-consolidate/
  5. Applause Announces Acquisition by Vista Equity Partners, Business Wire, August 23, 2017
  6. "Executive Team", Applause website (retrieved February 22, 2016); http://www.applause.com/executives Archived 2016-02-29 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Applause Company Profile", (CrunchBase); https://www.crunchbase.com/funding-round/68248e31fd1635c3782ad8f7dd82744a
  8. https://www.polidea.com/
  9. "uTest Acquires Apphance Mobile App Testing Tool for Seven Figures", BostInno (August 15, 2012); http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2012/08/15/utest-acquires-apphance-mobile-app-testing-tool-for-seven-figures/
  10. "UTest Adds $43M for App Testing, Gets Ready for Future as Applause", Xconomy (January 14, 2014); http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2014/01/14/utest-adds-43m-for-app-testing-gets-ready-for-future-as-applause/
  11. "Targeting Bigger Market, UTest To Change Name To Applause Along With Strategy", Forbes (November 5, 2013); https://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2013/11/05/targeting-bigger-market-utest-to-change-name-to-applause-along-with-strategy/#489b8ab72d03
  12. "App Tester uTest/Applause Acquires German's Testhub To Grow Its Presence In Europe", TechCrunch (May 5, 2014); https://techcrunch.com/2014/05/05/applause-buys-testhub/
  13. "Applause scores $35 mln Series F", peHUB (September 14, 2016); https://www.pehub.com/2016/09/applause-scores-35-mln-series-f/
  14. "Applause Reaches $115M in Funding, Eyes Acquisitions Ahead of IPO", BostInno (September 14, 2016); http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2016/09/14/applause-funding-35m-series-f-ipo-plans-accenture-partnership/
  15. "Boston Download: Applause Relaunches uTest, 'Rock Band' on Oculus, Mayor Visits Wayfair", (December 4, 2015); http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/12/04/boston-download-mayor-visits-wayfair-harvard-students-green-line-bomb-incident-50-on-fire-winners-announced/
  16. We dismantle Facebook’s memo defending its “Research” https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/31/facebook-researchgate/
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