While any number of startups have claimed to be in “stealth mode,” AppThwack just took it to a whole new level. The Portland startup announced today that they have partnered with In-Q-Tel—the independent nonprofit venture arm for US intelligence organizations.
AppThwack, a leader in cloud-based app testing, announced it has entered into a strategic partnership and technology development agreement with In-Q-Tel (IQT). IQT is an independent strategic investment firm that identifies innovative technology solutions to support the missions of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). The investment enables further development of AppThwack’s enterprise-grade app testing platform, and helps IC customers thoroughly and quickly test app compatibility, functionality, and performance before deployment of an app.
All joking aside, this news marks a meaningful and respectful nod to both the company and its technology, including the way it allows app developers to privately test applications. Both while in early development stages and after release.
Here’s what others are saying:
The Oregonian: AppThwack gets backing from In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture arm
While he declined to talk specifically about how In-Q-Tel’s clients will use AppThwack’s tools, Peterson said the new partnership will fund improvements to the company’s technology with broad applications.
“It allows us to enhance our product in ways that will benefit both our current customers and future customers,” he said, “regardless of who they are.”
AppThwack has disclosed $600,000 in seed funding. It was a member of the second class of Wieden+Kennedy’s Portland Incubator Experiment and the fourth class of the city-backed Portland Seed Fund.
GeekWire: Portland mobile app-tester AppThwack partners with CIA venture capital arm
In about 18 months since launch, AppThwack has run nearly three million tests for thousands of developers at companies like Symantec, Mozilla, New Relic, and Wooga. Test reports provide information like high-level trends, low-level logs, high-res screenshots and detailed performance profiles.
“The market is growing rapidly so we’re plenty busy,” Peterson said. “Looking out further it’s clear the future holds more diverse and interconnected devices, and AppThwack will serve as the platform on which this complex ecosystem is tested, making sure technology works the way companies intend and customers expect.”
Other local IQT investments include Elemental Technologies, Tyfone, and iMove.
For more information, see the AppThwack post on the In-Q-Tel partnership.
[Full disclosure: AppThwack is a PIE startup. I cofounded PIE.]
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Thanks for the nice write-up Rick!
And thanks Jeff. Was impressed to watch your pitch at Disrupt and then hear your funding news.
Niiiiiice 🙂 Congrats, guys!