Parallelz has announced an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round of $3.0 million to build out its software platform that will enable entirely new ways to distribute and discover mobile applications. The funding, sourced from prominent industry leaders and venture investors, will help the technology company grow its team and accelerate platform development.
Parallelz founder and CEO Albert Lai said the new funding shows excitement for his company’s mission to challenge “the app store monopoly.” The breakthrough software architecture developed by Parallelz instantly transforms native mobile applications into native web applications, without any compromise to visual quality or user experience. Better yet, the application transformation — once considered impossible — doesn’t require any work by a developer. No code changes required, and no need for an SDK.
By making mobile apps instantly accessible, shareable, and embeddable, Parallelz unlocks new ways for developers and users to drive app adoption – accelerating discovery and virality across multiple digital and social channels. In doing so, Parallelz will help to solve two major business challenges in the mobile ecosystem: increasing customer acquisition costs and inefficient user discovery.
“When I heard about Parallelz, I didn’t believe it was possible until I saw it. Parallelz enables new and radically powerful opportunities to drive virality and growth – that is a game changer,” said investor, AnyQuestion founder and CEO, and Uber former VP of growth and Facebook head of international growth Ed Baker.
“Parallelz has achieved what many developers thought was impossible. Soon, sharing a mobile app will be as easy as sending a link,” said investor, product hunt founder and weekend fund investor Ryan Hoover.
Parallelz was founded by experienced mobile gaming and software leaders including serial entrepreneurs and technologists from Google, Mozilla, MIT Media Lab, Bridgewater Associates and other top technology companies. The company plans to make its platform available in limited release later this year.
Investor Maple VC general partner Andre Charoo, who led the pre-seed funding round, said that the combination of “app fatigue, rising user acquisition costs, the 30 per cent tax, and a single point of failure” has made mobile apps “an increasingly more difficult and inefficient channel” for marketers and brands. “Parallelz has invented a next-gen computing architecture that revolutionises the delivery, discovery and distribution of mobile apps.”
In addition to Baker, Charoo and Hoover, Parallelz’ investors include pre-seed investors from Global Founders Capital, Play Ventures, Garage Capital, Two Small Fish Ventures. Additional individual investors include, Andreessen Horowitz general partner Jonathan Lai; Golden founder and CEO Jude Gomila; Com2uS president Kyu Lee and Shopify VP of engineering Farhan Thawar.
According to Global Founders Capital partner Alexander McIsaac, “Forcing users to download and install apps has unnecessarily created friction. Parallelz removes the friction and replaces it with a method that is easy for users and developers alike.”
