Mobile analytics startup Mobilewalla has raised $4 million in new funding, including a cash infusion from Madrona Venture Group and several angel investors. As a result of the financing, the founding team behind Mobilewalla are relocating to Seattle, setting up temporary offices in the venture capital firm’s downtown Seattle offices.
A spokeswoman for Madrona describes Mobilewalla’s technology as a Nielsen rating system for mobile apps. Essentially, the technology allows brands to better understand if their apps are reaching specific demographic groups, with the technology also recommending possible apps which could make for good advertising venues.
The technology should fit nicely into Madrona’s portfolio, which has been investing in other mobile analytics startups, including Seattle startup Placed.
TechCrunch reports that the funding is the first for Mobilewalla since it was founded in 2011 by Anindya Datta. He tells TechCrunch that they chose Madrona as an investment partner because they understood mobile “and had the right connections,” pointing specifically to ties between the firm and Amazon.com (where Madrona’s Tom Alberg sits on the board).
The funding is also interesting since it comes with the founding team relocating to Seattle from Atlanta. (The engineering team will continue to be based in Singapore where Datta has connections).
We’ve seen some entrepreneurial teams pulled out of Seattle in recent months — including today’s announcement of Yahoo’s “acquihire” of Alike. So, from that vantage point, it’s nice to see some of the entrepreneurial talent coming this way too.
