AppGratis

AppGratis emerged as a mobile application discovery platform, founded by French engineer Simon Dawlat, that curated and offered users a new paid app for free, or at a significant discount, each day. The venture began in 2008 as a daily email newsletter among friends, highlighting app deals on the Apple App Store, before evolving into a formal business with a dedicated mobile application in 2010. The company operated on a straightforward business model: it brokered deals with app developers, promoting their applications to a rapidly growing user base to boost visibility and drive downloads. Revenue was generated by taking a percentage of in-app purchases following the promotion or sometimes charging developers an upfront fee.

Bootstrapped for its initial years, AppGratis secured a significant milestone in January 2013, raising $13.5 million in a Series A round from investors including Iris Capital, Orange, and Publicis Groupe to fuel international expansion. By February 2013, the platform had surpassed 10 million users and was reportedly generating over $1 million in monthly revenue. At its peak, the service had 12 million iOS users and a team of 45 employees. The platform's core service was its curated daily deal, where a team of editors would select and review an app to be featured for a 24-hour period.

The company's trajectory was drastically altered in April 2013 when Apple abruptly removed AppGratis from the App Store. Apple cited violations of its guidelines, specifically clause 2.25, which prohibited apps that resembled the App Store for promotional purposes, and clause 5.6, which restricted the use of push notifications for advertising. Apple expressed concern that the business model favored developers who could afford to pay for exposure, undermining the App Store's intended meritocracy. Following the removal, AppGratis launched on Android and continued operating. However, the platform's utility diminished over time with the rise of the freemium model and competing services. On February 15, 2017, after seven years of operation and facilitating over 50 million installs, AppGratis announced it was shutting down. Founder Simon Dawlat subsequently shifted his focus to a new project called Batch.

Keywords: app discovery, mobile app promotion, daily deals, app recommendations, freemium apps, App Store marketing, app curation, user acquisition, mobile advertising, app discounts, iOS apps, Android apps, app monetization, app marketing platform, startup shutdown, Apple App Store policy, Simon Dawlat, digital distribution, app promotion service, mobile content discovery