Mobile app developers need all of the help they can get when trying to build momentum. After all, hundreds of thousands of apps have been released this year alone, making it especially challenging for developers to rise above the clutter.

Now, for the second time this week, we’re writing about a new Seattle area startup that’s attempting to crack the code on this problem. MobileDevHQ, a TechStars Seattle grad that specializes in boosting downloads for mobile apps, has raised $650,000 from Founder’s Co-op, Social Leverage and others.

The funding comes on the heels of the launch of Appnique, a Seattle area startup led by mobile veteran Jai Jaisimha.  It just scored $400,000 in angel financing, and is on the prowl for more.

The companies are similar in that both attempt to help app developers rise up the app charts, analyzing how certain keywords and tweaks help lead to more downloads. MobileDevHQ founder Ian Sefferman dubs this App Store Optimization or ASO.

Ian Sefferman

“App marketers are spending large amounts of time and money on paid marketing, which has led to highly inflated prices per download and a low quality of user. Marketers are hungry for better alternatives, and organic, unpaid, channels are the solution,” said MobileDevHQ co-founder Ian Sefferman.

Interestingly, both Appnique, which started as Open Mobile Solutions, and MobileDevHQ, which started as AppStoreHQ, have undergone pivots in order to end up where they are. Now, with the new funds, Sefferman said that they plan to expand the offering to include a single dashboard for organic app marketing. It also plans to use the new cash to hire folks in product development and operations, with a goal of building on its community of nearly 200,000 developers at iPhoneDevSDK.

“We have some amazing algorithms and data that no one else can get,” Sefferman told us earlier this year. “For example, we are the only organization that has a real understanding of search volume in the app stores” or  how frequently a particular term is searched for in the app stores.

That, as the company says on its Web site, allows app developers to analyze and optimize app performance, and in the process “beat your competition.”

Previously on GeekWireTechStars Spotlight: MobileDevHQ looks to help propel apps up the charts

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