GetJar CEO Ilja Laurs Explains Why They Just Raised $25 Million (TCTV)

GetJar, the independent, cross-platform app store provider, this morning announced that it has raised $25 million in Series C funding from Tiger Global Management and longtime backer Accel Partners. The round brings the total raised to $42 million.

I caught up with founder and CEO Ilja Laurs at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to talk about how his business has grown since the last time I did a video interview with the charismatic entrepreneur, now almost two years ago.

Since then, GetJar has managed to secure a leading position among the top 5 mobile app store operators, playing the same field as giants like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Nokia.

In the past year, the number of app downloads Get\jar registers per month has quadrupled, and the company has grown along with it; they now boasts triple the number of employees than last year.

I asked Laurs why GetJar needed the extra capital, how he evaluates the competitive landscape in the mobile app store business and what he thinks about the Nokia/Microsoft alliance.