Small Biz Spotlight: appScatter

Traditionally, app developers were forced to search for the right mobile app stores and then engage in the time-consuming task of registering those apps for sale on each of those stores. It was limiting.

Philip Marcella made this process easier, and better, with appScatter.

“appScatter dramatically reduces the time needed to publish apps to over 50 cross-platform app stores simultaneously, significantly broadening the scope of stores targeted globally and increasing sales effectiveness through detailed ranking information,” said a spokesperson for the company. “In doing so, appScatter provides the most comprehensive and efficient service for driving downloads/installs and for increasing market share through mobile app optimization.”

appScatter addresses publishing and reporting needs of cross-platform application developers. With it, developers can rapidly and intelligently build market share and increase downloads and installs. It’s got a sleek dashboard that updates ranking and reviews information collected from app stores, discovery services and millions of apps worldwide.

appScatter is located at 49 Winchester St. in Newton.

Here, we talk with Founder and CEO Philip Marcella, a programmer with 25 years of experience writing software in a number of programming languages. Marcella started his first software and web development company, RMR Design, in 1996. It ultimately had more than 300 employees in the UK and USA.

Around the same time, Marcella and some of the developers employed by RMR PLC started developing early concepts around mobile applications (apps), leveraging the popularity of Apple’s iTunes at first, and then expanding them to Android and Amazon. It is this technology that has since evolved into what is now known as appScatter.

When did you officially, or will you officially, launch? appScatter is currently an early-stage venture that was incorporated within the last year. The company intends to launch a “Beta” version of its products in early August 2015. To date, the company has raised $1.2 million from friends and family, and is kicking off a private crowd funding campaign to raise additional capital starting next week.

What made you decide to open this type of business? Companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Amazon all started out with a developer who had a burning desire to create a solution to an industry need. I share a similar passion that is focused on helping developers of applications to share their innovations with the greatest number of users possible.

One of the major difficulties mobile app developers face today is that, once they’re ready to sell their app, they typically post the app on one store (iTunes, for instance) - but seldom go to more than one store due to the time required to research and register their apps on multiple sites. App developers just starting out often find the major mobile app stores to be crowded and highly competitive, increasing the chances that the mobile app that they’ve spent a lot of time developing will get lost in the crowd.

Why Newton? Settling on the Newton area was an easy one. I’ve had offices for my previous ventures both in Europe and in Texas. In addition to having access to cost efficient office space in the Newton area (thanks to a relative), the area is in the heart of a rich talent pool and emerging ecosystem of partners. Newton is the ideal spot for an emerging business as ours.

Biggest struggle? Ensuring that app publishers understand there is a world outside the Google play and Apple also expanding to other markets such as China, Russia and Asia can easily be done with the right tools such as appScatter. Google and Apple only represent 61% of the market. Although Google and apple have the most app sales these are mainly made up of top 5 percent of apps. For the other 95 percent getting featured or noticed on other stores is 20 times more likely, which in turn will increase installs.

What do you see for the future? We really believe that we’ve hit on something big with appScatter. We are in the initial phases of raising funds, both privately and through venture capitalists. With this funding, we anticipate rapid growth as a company – both in terms of revenue and staffing – over the coming years.

Politics and small business: how does government affect your business? We have nothing but positive things to say about the politicians in Newton and across the Commonwealth. There is a strong sense of community locally and a drive to create and cultivate a highly competitive environment as one of the nation’s hubs for tech innovation.