Southborough Software Testing Firm Rides Growth Track
Suppose a software company makes a hot new mobile application that it wants to launch globally.
The mobile phone market is so expansive, with hundreds of devices, service plans and other variables on which the software needs to be tested. From the iPhone to the Android devices, to all different types of phones and service plans all over the world, how does a company know if the app or software it has created will work on all those different platforms?
That's where Southborough-based venture capital-backed startup uTest comes in.
uTest has a 50,000-person "community" spread across 180 countries that will test the software a business wants to bring to market. Testers will provide feedback on how the software works, what its problems are and what needs to be fixed.
Investors seem excited about the idea. After being founded in 2007, uTest recently secured its fourth round of venture capital financing, worth $17 million. Total funding for the company is now at $37 million.
With the new money, co-founder and CEO Doron Reuveni hopes to double the size of the 90-person company within a year and expand to offices in Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago. Within two to three years, he wants to take the company public.
Growth Trajectory
uTest works by having its massive community of testers try out and critique various products developed by the firm's customers. Reuveni explained that a company will hire uTest to sample the product, after which uTest will pay testers based on the quality of the feedback they provide. If a tester finds a bug in the system, he or she can get paid more, for example. The company also targets its testers based on a customer's target market. For example, if the client has a new social media app it plans to launch in the United States, uTest will find social media users in the U.S. who would be the most likely users of the app.
The business model has worked. Because the firm is still private, it doesn't release its revenue or earnings figures, but revenues have increased 250 percent year-over-year since 2008 while headcount has doubled each year.
The company has plans for even more growth. Reuveni said he wanted to scale up the company while business is hot.
"When you're growing from a top-line revenue at 250 percent a year, you run as much as you can and capture as much of the market share as you can," he said. "Being aggressive is the right model for us."
As part of the new funding, Reuveni is also hoping to purchase and acquire firms that can expand the company's service offerings and geographic presence.
In the meantime, the company is just expecting to continue executing on its rapid growth, which could see uTest increase its presence in Southborough from 65 to 140 people within the next year.
WBJ Web Partners
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