DIY app development enabler AppsVillage gets set to report record results

Recently listed SaaS solutions provider AppsVillage Australia (ASX: APV) has declared that its market operations are making strong progress and that “growth has accelerated materially” with “record results” expected next month when the company reports its end of year financial results.

AppsVillage made its ASX debut in August this year offering small businesses the ability to create their own software applications for smartphones and tablets.

The company has amassed a database of 500,000 businesses, with more than 5,000 active subscribers to its core service already secured.

Moreover, with sales revenues growing strongly, the small-cap company wants to take its market offering to the next level by offering a microfinance platform allowing businesses to quickly raise capital, later this year.

In a statement to the market this morning, AppsVillage said it has reached a milestone of acquiring 5,000 paid subscribers in recent months and expects to see customer acquisition increasing by 40% by the time it submits its regulatory filing next month.

If AppsVillage achieves its forecast, it will mean the SaaS business would have grown its operations by 200% since the start of 2019.

Looking forward, AppsVillage is also looking to transfer its domestic momentum internationally.

The company declared that its strong operational and financial performance was largely down to its strategic expansion into large emerging markets, including India, Malaysia and the Philippines and multiple countries in Africa – a trend it wants to consolidate and extend next year.

According to AppsVillage, its technology automates the design, development, maintenance and marketing of mobile apps, allowing any business to develop and launch their own applications “without having any code writing or digital marketing knowledge”.

With businesses having the ability to keep app development in-house, it means cutting into often expensive app development services being offered by specialised software developers.

App development arms race

Since being introduced in 2008, mobile apps have swept all before them within both the consumer and institutional markets.

According to market research published by Statista, mobile users downloaded 178 billion apps on their devices in 2017, and fuelled by greater smartphone adoption, that figure is expected to balloon to as high as 258 billion app downloads by 2022.

One of the prime reasons why a de-facto app arms race has begun is because of the market opportunities that are available to small businesses if they can offer their clients an app.

Small businesses stand to benefit most – over and above relative to large enterprises – from mobile apps given that apps serve as an effective means to enhance brand recognition, improve customer engagement and attain greater growth.

There are also additional benefits including the ability to track customer browsing activity, location and other behavioural habits that can optimise a company’s sales and marketing campaigns.

Keen to empower businesses with the ability to develop their own digital applications, AppsVillage also intends to level the playing field within other business functions including capital raisings.

Just last week, AppsVillage signed a partnership agreement with US-based funding services provider Fundomate to offer AppsVillage small business customers a “fully automated one-click funding solution”.

Providing small businesses with fast and easy financing, Fundomate’s online application and approval process “enables business owners to receive funds in 24 hours or less”, thereby giving small businesses a simplified solution to manage ongoing cash flow and working capital needs.

“This deal is yet another example of how AppsVillage is utilising our advanced technology to provide integrated solutions to small business and provide value to our customers,” said AppsVillage founder and chief executive officer Max Bluvband.

“We continue to seek further partnerships and agreements to expand and diversify our offering to this large market, represented by over 65 million small business globally and to continue to support the company’s strong revenue growth,” he added.