Earlier this year, Doron Reuveni, the CEO and co-founder of Framingham-based Applause, told BostInno that the app quality and testing company was on track with plans for an initial public offering by the end of this year or beginning of 2017.
On Wednesday, the company announced it had raised a $35 million Series F round led by Credit Suisse, and Reuveni said the funding, in part, will help with the timing of its IPO plans, which haven't changed. This brings total funding to over $115 million, and it includes IT services giant Accenture as a strategic investor and all previous investors.
"We’re growing and scaling quarter to quarter and cash burn has reduced quarter to quarter," Reuveni said, adding that the company is on track to break even next year.
Reuveni said the new funding round, which is smaller than the company's $43 million Series E in January 2014, will be used for multiple initiatives: expanding its testing services to more omni-channel experiences where mobile apps converge with brick-and-mortar locations, such as mobile payments; growing its digital usability feedback services, which is its second largest revenue producer; and formally launching its "crowd-powered" digital research services.
The funding will also allow Applause, Reuveni said, to explore mergers and acquisitions with other companies for the purposes of geographic expansion and adding new technologies to its roster. The company currently employs 305 people across offices in Framingham, San Mateo, Calif., London, Berlin, Poland and Israel.
In addition to the funding round, Applause announced a new strategic alliance with Accenture that builds upon their previous ties and will strengthen the scope and geographic abilities of its testing services. This new alliance brings together the capacities of Applause's 250,000 quality assurance testers with Accenture's 35,000 testing professionals, allowing companies to "access specialized crowds of testers that match the profile of their users and customers."
Some of Applause's customers include Google, Amazon, Rolex, American Red Cross, Fox, PayPal, BMW and Runkeeper. Contracts can range from the low five figures to the mid-six figures, Reuveni said.
"By working with [Accenture] we can accelerate our penetration into these type of enterprises," he said.
