Chevy Chase-based venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates will invest $7 million in mobile technology startup mNectar. The San Francisco-based mNectar has developed a way for customers to try out apps without downloading them using virtualization and the cloud to simulate the app without putting any data on a device. The Series A funding round that NEA raised will help the company expand its list of apps and companies involved and get mobile advertisers interested.
"mNectar has a rare combination of everything NEA looks for when partnering with a company," said NEA principal Rick Yang in a statement. "The team's impressive background, innovative technology, product market fit, and huge market opportunity are all validated by the rapid growth of delighted customers and consumers. We are extremely excited to team up with mNectar to bring virtualized apps to the mass market."
The idea behind mNectar, besides allowing people to test out apps, is that it will encourage developers to make better products since people would be able to try out what they have to offer before committing to downloading or buying. At the same time, it should raise higher ad revenue for the developers because advertisers can check out the apps and publishers can ensure the ads are high quality.
"mNectar is redefining how applications are discovered and engaged with," said mNectar co-founder and CEO Wally Nguyen in a statement. "With the new funding, we will invest heavily in our infrastructure to continue to push the performance envelope of mobile content delivery and acceleration."
The $7 million is a lot of money for an early-stage startup like mNectar, but NEA has $13 billion so it's not exactly a bankrupting risk for the venture capital firm. It could represent a great deal in fact, if the idea of testing apps takes off and mNectar and NEA are right there at the forefront. Investment in companies like Opower, TrackMaven and Braintree have certainly given the firm a wide scope of interest. It's even been involved in biotech companies like Glycomimetics.
Image via mNecatar
