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Branch<\/a>, a startup making\u00a0tools to enable developers to provide links between websites and apps, has raised a $60 million Series C round of funding from Andy Rubin\u2019s Playground Ventures<\/a>, according to sources.<\/p>\n Branch \u2014 formerly Branch Metrics \u2014 launched in 2014 to\u00a0provide better analytics and improve app discovery and referral programs. It offers tools that\u00a0app marketers can use\u00a0to create deep links between web and app content, as well as email to app content.<\/p>\n It works with email campaign managers and also plugs into a number of\u00a0analytics tools so marketers can test various campaigns to see which are most effective for driving downloads or even commerce in-app.<\/p>\n To fund the next phase of its platform evolution, Branch has raised a new\u00a0round of financing\u00a0from Andy Rubin\u2019s venture fund. Rubin, who is best-known as the founder of Android, left Google in 2014<\/a> and spent some time wandering the wilderness before re-emerging with $300 million in capital<\/a> to incubate and invest in startups.<\/p>\n While Rubin is clearly interested in hardware (and is apparently working on a new smartphone<\/a>), the Playground fund<\/a> isn\u2019t solely focused on that vertical. He and his team are also interested in quantum computing, AI and machine learning, and have made a few investments in those areas.<\/p>\n Branch\u2019s tools\u00a0generate a huge amount of data based on the relationships between apps and services that it has access to, which is why an investment in Branch might\u00a0make\u00a0sense.\u00a0With this\u00a0data, the company could\u00a0create an\u00a0index of the app ecosystem that is similar to the way that Google and other search engines indexed the Web.<\/p>\n When asked about the funding round by email, Branch CEO Alex Austin responded: \u201cWe\u2019ve seen tremendous growth and adoption of deep linking over the last few years and have been fortunate enough to become the clear market leader. There\u2019s so much more we can accomplish in deep linking and this money will be used to fund Branch\u2019s continued platform growth.\u201d<\/p>\n Prior to this financing,\u00a0Branch had raised $53 million in funding, including a $35 million round<\/a> led by Founders Fund just over a year ago. Other investors include\u00a0New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Pear\u00a0Ventures, Cowboy Ventures, Madrona Ventures, Zach Coelius and Ben Narasin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/01\/branch-banner.png?w=680\")
Branch, a startup making tools to enable developers to provide links between websites and apps, has raised a $60 million Series C round of funding from Andy Rubin’s Playground Ventures, according to sources. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/img><\/a>
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