Branch Metrics Raises $35 Mn From Founders Fund & Others; Looks For Rapid Expansion In India

Branch Metrics, the deep linking solution for app developers and marketers, has raised $35 Mn in series B round of funding led by Founders Fund. The round also saw participation from other existing investors including New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Pejman Mar Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, Zach Coelius, and Ben Narasin, and new investor Madrona Venture Group.

As part of the deal, Scott Nolan, partner at Founders Fund, will join the board of directors.

Alex Austin, CEO & co-founder of Branch said, “There is a good reason why people spend 85% of their time on mobile in apps – they offer superior user experiences and unique content. However, the process of finding these apps in overcrowded app stores and generic install ads is painful for both consumers and app developers. We plan to use this new funding to continue our efforts to improve the app and app content discovery process.”

Founded in 2014 by by Alexander Austin, Mada Seghete, Mike Molinet and Dmitri Gaskin, Branch, enables app developers and marketers to move away from expensive paid install campaigns to new, lower cost marketing channels for mobile apps such as email, SMS, and social marketing campaigns. With Branch, marketers can create content campaigns that span all of their channels and link directly to app content, allowing for more effective campaigns and lower customer acquisition costs.

Besides offering free deep linking, attribution and analytics SDK and API, Branch’s app content is searchable, shareable, and easier to integrate into marketing channels like email, SMS and advertising. It supports all existing deep linking and mobile search technologies like Facebook App Links, Twitter App Cards, Google App Indexing, Apple Universal Links and Spotlight Search.

With few clicks, deep links take consumers directly to the correct content for an installed app, and if the app is not installed, will take them to the right place even after a detour through an app store. Without deep linking, consumers experience a start and stop experience that discourages downloads and creates barriers that reduce engagement and user retention.

Quick Numbers:

•   Total deep linking users – 1 Bn, up from 6 Mn last January
•   Handling more than 25 Bn API calls per month, up from 780 Mn last January
•   1.6 Bn deep links created by partners, up from 20 Mn last February.
•   Building a 10,000-person Mobile Growth community by hosting 146 meetups, lunch and learns, hackathons, and workshops in 50 cities around the world.

With Branch, app developers double user engagement, reduce acquisition costs by 30%, and obtain nearly double the retention rate. Few of its partners include Pinterest, Jet, Buzzfeed, Redfin, HotelTonight, Luxe, PicsArt, Mint, Ticketmaster, Cole Haan, Houzz, Robinhood and Fox Sports. Since its founding, the startup has raised $53 Mn in venture funding.

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