Branch Announces Funding for Next Generation Deep Linking Technology

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Branch Metrics, a mobile software company focused on deep linking technology, announced today that it has raised $3M in seed financing, led by top venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA) with participation from Pejman Mar Ventures, Ben Narasin and TriplePoint Capital. Scott Sandell and Forest Baskett, General Partners at NEA, as well as Mar Hershenson, Managing Partner at Pejman Mar Ventures, will work closely with the company. The new funding will be used for market expansion of Branch's next generation deep linking service. Branch provides a dynamic URL creation and analytics platform for mobile developers, which intelligently routes users to the optimal experience (whether desktop web, Android or iOS app) and passes URL parameters into the mobile app through app install or immediate open.

Deep links, by definition, are HTTP URLs that will take users to a specific page inside of a mobile app. Traditional links, however, just lead to a specific page on a website, or simply to the landing homepage in mobile apps. The problem with prior deep link technology is that links would only work if the app was previously installed, and would show an error if not. Branch's innovative solution can pass users to a specific page inside the app, regardless if the app is already installed. Their technology also tracks where users come from and what drove them to install the app in the first place, which has previously been a mystery to developers.

"As mobile app developers, we've struggled for years to figure out where a new user had come from in order to give them the best, personalized experience after install," said Alex Austin, CEO and co-Founder of Branch Metrics. "We've built Branch as the ultimate mobile app linking toolkit to solve several growth problem we've faced: deep linking, end-to-end analytics, and mobile referral programs. We're excited to see what can be done now that we've lowered the app install barrier. It will fundamentally change the way people build apps today."

The Branch Software Development Kit (SDK) has only been publicly available since the end of June 2014, but is already live or pending with 50 app developers, allowing exposure to 25 million mobile devices. Current traction indicates that Branch may be live on over 100 million devices within a year.

Mobile app companies are using Branch links to power and track content sharing. Allthecooks lets users share recipes via a white-labeled Branch link, ensuring that users who click on it will be deep linked to the recipe right away. Rafael Sanches, CEO of Allthecooks (allthecooks.com), stated: "We needed to build a referral program to help grow our app, and didn't have the time to build it in house. Branch links provided the entire user to user referral attribution and rewarding infrastructure, so we only needed to design the sharing and reward screen!"

Additionally, companies have enabled user-to-user referral/invite systems without building any backend infrastructure. Because every Branch link is tied to a user identity, it is easy to reward a new user for installing from an existing user referral. Chris Moberg, Marketing Manager from Personal Capital (personalcapital.com) says, "Branch Metrics' social sharing and analytics features enabled us to think big about how to serve our users with offers and giveaways. Great product and hands-on service meant we are able to focus on what matters: giving our users a great experience."

The Branch linking and analytics SDK are available for immediate use at branchmetrics.io; iOS, Android and Web are supported. A public API is available for custom integrations. The core deep linking and analytics service is free to use.

About Branch Metrics (www.branchmetrics.io)

Branch provides a platform that powers the links that point back to your apps for shares, invites, referrals, and more, making them as seamless as possible. Branch makes it incredibly simple to create powerful deeplinks that can pass data across app install or open, making the entire app experience better. Our goal is to make every app experience frictionless and fundamentally change the way people interact with mobile apps today.

About NEA

New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. With approximately $13 billion in committed capital, NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company's lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm's long track record of successful investing includes more than 190 portfolio company IPOs and more than 315 acquisitions since its founding in 1977. In the U.S., NEA has offices in Menlo Park, CA; Boston, MA; New York, NY; Chicago, IL; and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In addition, New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. has offices in Bangalore and Mumbai, India and New Enterprise Associates (Beijing), Ltd. has offices in Beijing and Shanghai, China. For additional information, visit www.nea.com.

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