App testing, crash reporting, and app prototyping constitute some of the niche upcoming sectors that have been able to draw investor interest in the mobile dev tools space where overall funding dollars surged marginally in 2016.
By stage, round count fell by 45% in early and 27% in seed whereas funding dollars surged in late by 67% with funding dollars falling for both seed (43%) and early (41%).
As average ticket size fell across the board, the dip was most pronounced for seed (33%).
Top investments in the past year include Sauce LabsтАЩ Series E round of $70M led by Centerview Capital and Institutional Venture Partners and InVisionAppтАЩs Series D round of $55M led by Accel among others.
App Testing historically has amassed the largest investment ($681M) with 154 companies following this business model. Most active investors in this space include a16z, Accel, NEA, and Y Combinator.
By stage of entry, Y Combinator emerged as the top investor for seed, IDG Capital Partners for Series A, Egan-Managed Capital for Series B and Accel Partners for later stage.
13 acquisitions marked the space last year with CA snapping up BlazeMeter for $100M being the highest disclosed deal value.
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