MobileDevHQ
AcquiredTechstars '12Seattle, US · 4 known investors
Seattle SaaS provider of app store optimization and inbound app marketing analytics, acquired by Tune in 2014.
Also known as AppStoreHQ · MDHQ
Investors · 4
Also in the syndicate · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026MobileDevHQ (also referred to as MDHQ) was a Seattle-based software-as-a-service company serving mobile app marketers and publishers. Its products addressed app store optimization (ASO) — effectively search engine optimization for mobile apps — by analyzing the metadata and keywords used in app listings, recommending improved keywords based on predicted performance, and tracking app search rankings over time by region across the iOS App Store (worldwide) and Google Play (United States). The platform also provided competitive intelligence, alerting marketers to keyword, title and description changes made by competitors and to shifts in app store search results and chart positions.
Beyond keyword and rank tracking, the company built enterprise-oriented capabilities: reports on a customer's app store SEO effectiveness, insights into media and PR coverage (which authors write about a company or its competitors), analysis of how users share apps socially, and measurement of how well non-mobile-first companies drive users from the web into their mobile apps. Consulting services were offered alongside the tooling. The company described itself as an enterprise inbound app marketing solution aimed at increasing downloads through unpaid, organic channels.
The MobileDevHQ ASO toolset was spun out of AppStoreHQ, the company's earlier app search and discovery platform, which was deprecated in mid-2012 so the team could focus on ASO. In August 2014 MobileDevHQ was acquired by fellow Seattle company Tune (formerly HasOffers); the service remained live for existing customers while being integrated with Tune's MobileAppTracking product.
Founding story
Founder and CEO Ian Sefferman, a former Amazon software engineer who worked on Amazon's Personalization and Email Marketing teams, led the company; sources place its founding in early 2009 (with one profile citing 2012 as the founding year of the MobileDevHQ entity). At the December 2012 funding, Sefferman said the team had been tracking the app ecosystem for over three and a half years.
Business model
Subscription SaaS sold to app publishers and marketers, complemented by enterprise reporting and consultancy engagements tailored to a customer's vertical.
Tiered subscription pricing on a sliding scale from a free tier up to $350 per month for a publisher plan (free tier tracked up to three apps on iOS or Google Play; the $350/month tier tracked up to 10 apps across multiple regions), with indie developers cited at $14 per month and the enterprise offering priced per user.
Traction
By December 2012 the company reported over 10,000 sign-ups in roughly eight months and hundreds of paying customers, with enterprise accounts described as its core business. By the August 2014 acquisition it reported tens of thousands of customers using its products, many on the free tier, and had raised $750,000 in outside funding while employing fewer than 10 people.
Latest developments
Tune, the Seattle company formerly known as HasOffers, acquired MobileDevHQ on 4 August 2014 for undisclosed terms. The MobileDevHQ service stayed live for existing customers, with plans to integrate it with Tune's MobileAppTracking product by year-end; Ian Sefferman became general manager of Tune's newly created Inbound division and the remaining team of roughly six joined Tune, which then employed 215 people.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
An early entrant in app store optimization tooling, competing with startups such as Appnique and 500 Startups-backed SearchMan as the category began attracting new entrants in late 2012.
Management positioned the company as an early leader in ASO, citing more than three and a half years of continuous app-ecosystem tracking data as the basis for stronger ranking algorithms and recommendations, and an expansion beyond keywords into PR, social sharing and web-to-app insights for enterprise marketers.
Technology
A web platform built on Ruby on Rails with MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, AWS and Hadoop, plus responsive web design; backend keyword and ranking algorithms drew on machine learning and big-data techniques, supported by a database of about 2 million apps across the Apple and Google stores and 350,000 keywords as of December 2012.
Go-to-market
Freemium self-service acquisition funnel producing more than 10,000 free sign-ups that converted into hundreds of paying customers, combined with direct enterprise sales and business development; a dedicated business development hire ran sales.
Mobile app developers, agencies and enterprise app marketing teams, ranging from indie developers to large publishers and brands; named customers included ngmoco, Whaleshark Media, Gameloft, Intuit, Realtor.com, Hotels.com and R/GA.
Geography
Headquartered in Seattle, Washington (2722 Eastlake Avenue East, Suite 100; earlier at the Founder's Co-op/TechStars office in South Lake Union). Rank tracking covered the iOS App Store worldwide and Google Play in the United States.
History
The company's origins lie in AppStoreHQ, an app search and discovery engine, out of which the ASO toolset was spun; AppStoreHQ was deprecated around mid-2012. MobileDevHQ went through the TechStars Seattle incubator and announced a $650,000 round in December 2012, at which point it had a team of five. In 2013 it was hiring frontend and backend engineers from an office in South Lake Union shared with Founder's Co-op/TechStars. In April 2014 it partnered with TUNE on an Organic Downloads product, and on 4 August 2014 TUNE (formerly HasOffers) acquired the company in TUNE's first acquisition, with terms undisclosed and total prior outside funding reported at $750,000.
Risks & controversies
Competition in app store optimization intensified during 2012 as additional venture-backed entrants launched comparable developer-facing tools.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 4
launches, deals, and filingsTune acquired MobileDevHQ in its first acquisition; terms were undisclosed. The MobileDevHQ service remained live for existing customers, the team of about half a dozen joined Tune, and founder Ian Sefferman became general manager of Tune's new Inbound division reporting to CEO Peter Hamilton.
MobileDevHQ and TUNE partnered to launch Organic Downloads, tracking keywords that lead to app downloads, and offered one-click integration between TUNE's MobileAppTracking paid attribution analytics and MobileDevHQ's inbound app marketing tools.
Following participation in the TechStars Seattle incubator, the company raised $650,000 from Founder's Co-op (Chris DeVore), Social Leverage (Tom Peterson) and primarily Seattle-based angel investors, earmarked for product development and hiring.
$650K source ↗
AppStoreHQ, the app search and discovery platform from which the ASO toolset was spun out, was deprecated roughly five months before December 2012 so the company could focus on app store optimization products.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- MobileDevHQmobiledevhq.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does MobileDevHQ do?
- Seattle SaaS provider of app store optimization and inbound app marketing analytics, acquired by Tune in 2014.
- Who are MobileDevHQ's investors?
- MobileDevHQ's investors include Techstars, Social Leverage.
- Where is MobileDevHQ headquartered?
- MobileDevHQ is headquartered in Seattle, US.