BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - September 14, 2010) - uTest, the world's largest software testing marketplace, announced today that it has closed a $13 million C Round of financing, led by Scale Venture Partners on the West Coast. All previous investors participated fully in the round, including B Round investors, Longworth Venture Partners and Egan-Managed Capital. This brings uTest's total funds raised to more than $20 million across three rounds since the end of 2007. With this investment, Sharon Wienbar, Managing Director with Scale Venture Partners, joins the uTest board.
Sparked by uTest's expansive top line growth in the past 18 months, the funds will be used to increase investment in:
- uTest's rapidly expanding community of 30,000 professional testers
- Further developing its testing platform, mobile apps and APIs
- Enhancing the company's newly launched usability testing and load testing services, as well as expanding into new categories
- Fueling the continued growth in mindshare and market share of uTest's in-the-wild testing services
"This was a highly competitive situation -- which is a testament to our growth and execution, as well as our belief that all applications need to be tested in the wild. We were blown away by ScaleVP's knowledge of crowdsourcing models, as well as their belief in our vision for the future of software testing," said Doron Reuveni, CEO of uTest. "By enabling software, media and retail companies to get their apps tested in as little as 48 hours -- and for a fraction of the cost of traditional outsourced testing -- uTest is leaving a lasting footprint on the testing industry."
A new report by research analyst firm Ovum estimates that the mobile apps market will reach $21.3 billion by 2015. "With iPhone, iPad, Android and BlackBerry apps vying for media attention and consumer dollars, the pressure to get apps tested and launched quickly has never been greater," said Reuveni. Additionally, Ovum estimates that the worldwide market for software testing services will reach $56 billion by 2013.
"Huge growth in mobile, social and gaming have made app testing an excellent investment opportunity, and one that is consistent with ScaleVP's software investing strategy," said Sharon Wienbar. "uTest has created a solution that is uniquely aligned with the testing challenges that companies face. Through our extensive research in the crowdsourcing space and the app testing market, we saw repeatedly how uTest has helped companies launch web and mobile applications their users love."
uTest is revolutionizing software testing by introducing in-the-wild testing for web, mobile and desktop apps. The company's on-demand testing services complement in-house QA teams and have struck a chord with hundreds of companies -- from global enterprises to startups to universities to non-profits. uTest customers report increased application quality, faster time to market and dramatically reduced testing costs.
About uTest
uTest is the world's largest marketplace for software testing services. The company provides in-the-wild testing services through its community of 30,000 professional testers from more than 165 countries around the world. Thousands of companies -- from young startups to global software leaders -- have signed up for the uTest marketplace to get their web, desktop and mobile applications tested. More information can be found at www.utest.com or the Software Testing Blog at blog.utest.com.
About Scale Venture Partners
Based in Foster City, California, the ScaleVP team is a long-standing partnership with a consistent, top quartile track record of returns for the past decade. ScaleVP's market-tested investment strategy, extensive operating networks and go-to-market expertise help identify and build successful portfolio companies in technology and healthcare markets. The ScaleVP team's collaborative and active approach provides entrepreneurs a competitive advantage for growth and category leadership. Representative portfolio companies include Alimera Sciences, EverydayHealth, ExactTarget, Frontbridge, IPC The Hospitalist Company, mBlox, Monolithic Power Systems, National Healing, NComputing, Omniture, Orexigen, ScanSafe, and Zogenix. For more information, visit www.scalevp.com.
Contact Information:
Media Contact:
Jennifer Moebius
uTest, Inc.
508-480-9999 x114
jenniferm@utest.com
www.twitter.com/utest
