There are a number of U.S. private companies that have raised funding at a $1B+ valuation. Given the growing importance of mobile, we dove into our app store data to see how 12 of tech’s high flyers are doing in this important area.
Here’s a summary of the results by data and commentary below on each app specifically.
Consistent Category Leaders – These companies are at or near the top of their category within mobile.
- Snapchat
- Dropbox
- Uber
- Evernote
- Airbnb
- Autommatic
Volatile – This group has seen fairly significant movements in app store ranks over time.
- Box
- Gilt Groupe
- Wayfair
Losing Ground – A couple of billion dollar valued companies whose consumer mobile app ranking looks like its going in the wrong direction
- Square (Wallet app)
- Fanatics
Snapchat
Category: Photo & Video
Select Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Benchmark Capital, General Catalyst Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, Coatue Management
Over the past four months, Snapchat has not once dropped out of the top five-ranked App Store apps in ‘Photo & Video’.
Uber
Category: Travel
Select Investors: Benchmark Capital, First Round Capital, Lowercase Capital, Menlo Ventures, Google Ventures, TPG Capital
Like Snapchat, Uber has remained atop its category ranking as well, consistently holding its ground in the top 5 ranked ‘Travel’ apps.
Dropbox
Category: Productivity
Select Investors: Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital, Greylock Partners, Index Ventures
Another billion-dollar startup whose app remains atop its App Store category ranking. It has been among the top 5-ranked ‘Productivity’ apps over time.
Category: Social Networking
Select Investors: Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark Capital, Andreessen Horowitz
And yet another is Bessemer Venture Partners-backed Pinterest, which has consistently ranked among the top 10 ‘Social Networking’ apps in the App Store.
Evernote
Category: Productivity
Select Investors: Morganthaler Ventures, Sequoia Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Docomo Capital
Over the past few months, Sequoia-backed Evernote has held strong in the App Store but trended outside the top 10-ranked apps in the ‘Productivity’ category.
Airbnb
Category: Travel
Select Investors: Sequoia Capital, Greylock Partners, General Catalyst Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund
AirBnB, backed by investors including Sequoia Capital and Greylock Partners, has not fallen outside the top 30-ranked ‘Travel’ apps in the period but has broken into the top 10 just a handful of times.
Automattic
App name: WordPress
Category: Social Networking
Select Investors: Polaris Partners, True Ventures, Radar Partners
Automattic’s WordPress app has ranked consistently in the top 100 ‘Social Networking’ apps in recent months.
Box
App name: Box for iPhone and iPad
Category: Business
Select Investors: US Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Scale Venture Partners, Emergence Capital Partners, Andreessen Horowitz
On Jan, 15, Box overhauled its iOS app with a new interface and 50GB of free storage to users who downloaded the app over the following 30 days. And the facelift has had a big effect on Box’s App Store ranking, which has jumped to the top 5 in the ‘Business’ category through Feb. Whether Box will be able to maintain its momentum post-promotion will be interesting to monitor.
Gilt Groupe
App name: Gilt – Designer Shopping at Insider Prices
Category: Lifestyle
Select Investors: Matrix Partners, General Atlantic, New Enterprise Associates
Gilt Groupe, backed by Matrix Partners and General Atlantic, has seen a fluctuating rank in the ‘Lifestyle’ category, falling from as low as 212 to as high as 37 in 2014 alone.
Wayfair
App name: Joss & Main Home Decor
Category: Lifestyle
Select Investors: Spark Capital, Battery Ventures, HarbourVest Partners
Like Gilt, Wayfair’s app, Joss & Main, has also fluctuated in the ‘Lifestyle’ category ranking. Wayfair reportedly raised $150M at a $2B valuation at the end of January and Joss & Main has trended up in the rankings in past two weeks and will be interesting to monitor.
Square
App name: Square Wallet
Category: Lifestyle
Select Investors: Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Tiger Global Management
Square’s Wallet app has trended down over the past few months falling from the top 100 in October to 214 as of Feb. 1.
Fanatics
Category: Lifestyle
Select Investors: Insight Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Alibaba
Fanatics released its mobile sports eCommerce app in November. The app rose to as high as the top 100-ranked ‘Lifestyle’ apps in December but has since fallen in 2014.
Sign up for the free CB Insights Mobile Momentum newsletter which highlights promising mobile apps from the iTunes App Store.
If you aren’t already a client, sign up for a free trial to learn more about our platform.