Leanplum creates A/B testing for small mobile game developers

Leanplum has raised $825,000 in a funding round for evaluating test cases in mobile gaming apps. This so-called optimization platform is common with web apps, and Leanplum is creating a platform to take the technology to native mobile apps.

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Momchil Kyurkchiev (pictured on left), co-founder of San Francisco-based Leanplum, said in an interview with GamesBeat that the team of three people picked up its expertise in A/B testing at Google while working on video apps. Now they have formed a company and gone through training at the Techstars accelerator firm.

“Our product is very flexible,” said Kyurkchiev. “You can optimize any aspect of apps. It can be used for game dynamics or any aspect of a mobile app. We are targeting it at product managers who don’t have to do the coding themselves.”

Leanplum is also packaging its A/B testing platform with an analytics program. It will allow app makers to optimize for multiple goals. The platform is focused on iOS for now. The goal is to level the playing field so that smaller companies, especially those without A/B testing experts, can reap the benefits of better testing.

“We rethought the way analytics should be done,” said Kyurkchiev, who started the company last year. “You can test nearly any aspect of your app whether it’s the look-and-feel, game mechanics, or promotions. Once you design a test, you can instantly preview it before it goes live. Just select the customer segments and regions to target. Your changes will be pushed to your users on the fly. No additional coding. No recompiling.”

Rivals include companies such as Kontagent, which has a full analytics platform that allows developers to optimize their apps for monetization. Swrve is also another venture-funded competitor. Other rivals include Pathmapp and Bees & Pollen. Over time, Leanplum plans to add more features as it goes. Right now, the A/B testing must be done on a PC.

The company has a software developer kit that developers implement in their apps. The lead angel investor is Andrew Wright, a pioneer in casual gaming. AngelList also provided funding, as did Kima Ventures.