Tune gets into acquisition business, buys MobileDevHQ

Mobile analytics player Tune is getting into the acquisition business.

Tune bought SaaS mobile-marketing player MobileDevHQ Monday for a price that hasn’t been publicly disclosed. MobileDevHQ’s software gives mobile marketing teams insight into so-called app store visibility, mobile intelligence, and search rankings. This is the first acquisition for Tune, which changed its name from HasOffers in July.

Tune and MDHQ, as the latter company calls itself, have been working together for over a year, signing a partnership agreement last April, to offer “one-click integration of MDHQ’s inbound app marketing capabilities for customers of both companies,” Tune and MDHQ executives told VentureBeat.

To be sure, Seattle-based MDHQ is a small company at just 10 employees strong. It was founded by chief executive Ian Sefferman. MDHQ gives medium and large enterprises a full-window view into how their apps are fairing in both ranking and customer feedback on the App Store — crucial intelligence that allows clients the ability to see what’s working or failing.

MDHQ’s software suite dovetails with Tune’s analytics component. As for Tune, it has enjoyed tremendous growth in the mobile ecosystem and now employs 215 people on three continents. Tune parted ways with Facebook earlier this year over a conflict with data storage processes. Tune raised $9.4 million in venture capital last year, most of it from Accel Partners.

“MDHQ helps company’s improve organic downloads and offers in-depth competitive intelligence on app rankings, for example. And visibility while people search for apps. The question is ‘how can they find me,’ in the App Store, what are the reviews, and how can I improve,” Sefferman told VentureBeat.

Sefferman’s new role is general manager of Tune’s brand new so-called “inbound division.” He reports directly to Tune chief Peter Hamilton.

The deal comes at an opportune time for those making money in the mobile sphere. The mobile ecosystem was worth $17 billion in 2013 and will crest $34 billion by year’s end, according to eMarketer. Incredibly, analysts speculate that the mobile arena will top a whopping $700 billion in just four years time.

In particular, MDHQ offerings will be strongly fused and integrated into Tune’s MobileAppTracking (MAT) tool, Hamilton and Sefferman told VentureBeat. MAT also allows mobile operators the ability to see which ads are killing it and which ones aren’t. It is that type of actionable intelligence that brands and marketers crave.

“It’s a win-win situation,” Tune’s Hamilton said. “Now, marketers looking at the big picture have it all in one place and can chart progress through all their marketing channels.”