Flurry: Analytics for Mobile Application Developers

By Chelsi Nakano | Published Feb 5, 2010

The whole analytics thing is making a huge statement this year, not only on the Web, but on mobile devices as well. A mobile analytics firm called Flurry is one example—the company just landed US$ 7 million in a Series B round of financing. Let's check them out:

Data for Developers

Flurry’s analytics software gets embedded into applications for smartphones (like the Apple iPhone or Google Android) in order to track how they’re used. This is good news for developers, who typically have little access to information other than how many times a particular application has been downloaded.

After embedding the software – free of charge – Flurry can detect how frequently an application is called up, the geographical location of the usage and even granular details such as how long it takes a player to complete a level of a game, or finish reading a chapter of an e-book:

Flurry Analytics

As the company points out, this kind of data helps developers:

Increase revenue by satisfying users and increasing retention
Save time and money, focusing on features users care about most
Improve decisions - know exactly how, where, when and by whom and application is used
Increase coverage by identifying problem handsets

Keys to Mobile Future

“The soaring popularity of the iPhone and Android-powered smartphones cemented the decision to infuse fresh funds into Flurry,” said Doug Pepper, general partner at InterWest, the latest venture capital firm to invest in Flurry. “The growth we’re seeing on these devices is eclipsing the growth of the personal computers in the late ’90s. We’re very excited about this market because we believe that analytics and monetization is going to be a key piece of the mobile infrastructure.”

We're inclined to believe it, too. For example, Webtrends, a fairly well known player in the analytics field, just announced the release of their mobile analytics platform. Similarly, the tool determines how customers are engaging with both mobile websites and applications.

"Business on the web is synonymous with business on a mobile device…" noted Webtrends CEO Alex Yoder.

For now, the Flurry Analytics feature is totally free (meaning now would be a good time to try it); however, the company does plan on scaling the business with funds by adding optional services such as deployment support and monetization opportunities. Get more info here.