rollApp, a California-based startup, has announced that they have obtained $1 million (767,000 euro) from TMT Investments and Leta Capital. Regarding this investment, Leta Capital is considered to be the lead investor, but TMT was an investor in rollApp at the seed stage back in 2011. Although based in California, the company was co-founded by Ukrainians Dima Malenko and Vlad Pavlov. According to the company, the new funding will be directed towards moving the product along from its current beta state to widespread adoption, to add support for more devices and platforms, and to begin to monetize the service. We also learn that their site attracted 500,000 visitors in May.
Describing itself as a “YouTube for applications”, rollApp is basically a service which allows users to run applications in any web browser without installing the software on their computer. It is a cloud-based service, so software publishers upload their product to the rollApp servers and the software can then be accessed through a browser by any end-user with a broadband/3G connection. According to Pavlov, rollApp is a service which aims to eliminate the need for re-developing software applications whenever new devices are introduced.
We last heard from TMT when they acquired a 20% stake in United States-based ad service AdInch. Founded in 2010, the investment firm has a primarily Russian team and has invested in services like Astrid, Wanelo, YC-graduate Virool, and a number of others. One final note about them is that serial entrepreneur Igor Shoifot is listed as both a consultant to TMT and as director of rollApp. For its part, Leta Capital is a fund which was established in 2010, is managed by Alexander Chachava, and also invests in Budist, RedHelper, HamsterSoft, and Displair.
(image by CreativeDash)
