Tapjoy launches support effort for developers

Tapjoy, a firm that specializes in monetizing mobile apps, has launched a new effort aimed at helping independent app developers to market more quickly and more profitably.

The company plans to fund early-stage and pre-launch game apps and use its resources to support development of selected apps. That includes granting monthly “marketing credits” to certain developers that can help them acquire new users in Tapjoy's network of more than 200 million mobile consumers and 100 million social gamers.

There’s also a monetization angle: Tapjoy has developed an ad targeting technology that provides personalized app recommendations for individual users, resulting in more than 1.5 million total application installs per day across iPhone, Android and iPad devices, according to the company. Mobile applications using Tapjoy’s service generate more than $35 million per month, the company claims.

Essentially, Tapjoy is acting as an incubator of sorts for fledgling app developers, lending its resources and platform to get them to market more quickly—without acquiring the apps or assuming creative control from developers.

The move comes just a few months after the company (formerly known as Offerpal) secured $21 million in venture backing in a round led by Rho Ventures and existing venture partners (InterWest Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners and D.E. Shaw Ventures). Tapjoy executives said at the time that it would use the new funding to spur growth in emerging app ecosystems, something this new initiative clearly is designed to do.