Apigee, a provider of API management products and services, which we’ve referred to in the past as a “Google Analytics for APIs” has acquired the mobile cloud platform Usergrid. For those unfamiliar, Usergrid helps to make mobile app development easier by providing the APIs needed to manage data, users and events. The company provides these kind of core APIs for the backend so mobile developers can speed their time to market.

With the acquisition, Apigee says it will enable enterprises and developers a “full universe” of APIs, including enterprise APIs, public APIs, and now, thanks to Usergrid, mobile APIs.

According to Apigee CEO Chet Kapoor, Usergrid reduces the cost of developing mobile apps by up to 80%, something which complements his company’s goals. “We’re focused on accelerating growth and innovation in the burgeoning ‘app economy’ with a full range of solutions not only for managing and using APIs, but also with best-in-class APIs such as Usergrid,” he says of the move.

As a part of the deal, Usergrid founder and CEO Ed Anuff is joining Apigee’s leadership team, where he will continue to guide the development of Usergrid software. Prior to starting Usergrid, Anuff served as executive vice president and general manager of Six Apart, and before that, co-founder of enterprise software company Epicentric.

Usergrid is currently in beta and will be offered as part of Apigee’s enterprise API platform and free API developer tools in the months following the acquisition. Apigee will provide Usergrid as a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and it will also be available as a free open source software stack that enterprises and developers can host in their own cloud.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Crunchbase

• APIGEE

Company: Apigee

Website: apigee.com

Launch Date: June 2004

Funding: $52.1M

Apigee is the leading provider of API products and technology for enterprises and developers. Over 250 enterprises like Comcast, GameSpy, TransUnion Interactive, Guardian Life and Constant Contact and thousands of developers use Apigee’s technology. Enterprises use Apigee for visibility, control and scale of their API strategies. Developers use Apigee to learn, explore and develop API-based applications.

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