DURHAM, NC – Among its other claims to fame, Durham, North Carolina now hosts the world’s largest cross-platform mobile app and content store. PocketGear Inc. has acquired smartphone app seller Handango, creating a marketplace with a catalog of more than 140,000 paid and free mobile titles.
PocketGear and Handango are the two largest independent app stores and combined to date have generated over $400 million in mobile application revenues from customers living in more than 175 countries and using over 2,000 unique mobile devices. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
With the acquisition, PocketGear’s mobile app marketplace has been expanded to connect more than 32,000 developers in the PocketGear Developer Program.
We have followed PocketGear CEO Judd Bowman since he started the firm that morphed into Motricity, after graduating from high school. Motricity relocated to Seattle and Bowman chose to stay put and launch PocketGear with venture backing from Wakefield Group and Noro-Moseley Partners. But we understand Bowman worked with Handango CEO Alex Bloom there before Handango lured him away.
The combined now has more than 40 PocketGear-powered storefront and distribution partners, including 4 of the world’s top 5 handset manufacturers, 4 of the top 5 mobile operators in the US, 3 of the top 10 mobile operators globally, and leading media and ecommerce companies including Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Research in Motion, Microsoft, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless.
In addition, more than 1,000 app developers are now using PocketGear’s developer storefront solutions to market and sell their mobile apps directly to consumers from their own websites and other marketing channels.
The company sells mobile titles for Android, Symbian OS, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm, Linux, and Java powered mobile devices.
Upon closing, Bowman will remain as president and CEO of PocketGear and Bloom will become COO of PocketGear.
Related Stories:
- Durham-based PocketGear phones in $12.5M raise
- PocketGear calls up $15M B round for mobile apps store
- Motricity Founder Jud Bowman starts new venture
- Motricity dumping Pocketgear.com, slashing 250 jobs, moving HQ
- Motricity founder to speak at Carolina Connect conference tomorrow
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Tags: Acquisitions, Durham, Handango, mobile apps, PocketGear
