Test IO, The App And Web ‘Crowdtesting’ Platform, Raises $5M And Expands To U.S.

Berlin-based Test IO (formerly Testcloud), which offers a self-service ‘crowdtesting’ platform for app and web developers, has closed a $5 million Series A round from Turn/River Capital, the San Francisco-based VC.

The new capital will be used to accelerate growth, including launching in the U.S. and setting up operations in San Francisco, and rebranding to the new name of Test IO.

Playing in the app and website testing space, Test IO enables developers, quality assurance personnel and product managers to connect to the startup’s 20,000-plus crowdsourced software testers in 78 countries who will quickly find bugs and other shortcomings.

Crucially, and something it says differentiates itself from many competitors, the platform utilises a self-service model, meaning customers can simply sign up and begin testing their apps and websites immediately.

Unsurprisingly, Test IO is seeing 70 per cent of tests being mobile focused and with the fragmented nature of mobile OSes and devices, it’s where services like this come into their own.

The tech sector is also one based on speed, seeing development and release cycles shorten dramatically — Test IO cites a recent Forrester report that makes just this point — increasing the need to scale app and web testing in order to remain competitive. A crowdsourced approach seems a good and cost effective fit here.

“Today’s economy is driven by mobile apps and software, and developers at startups all the way to Fortune 500 companies seek faster, cost effective ways to test software through the entire development process,” says Thomas Gruderich, co-founder of Test IO, in a statement.

“To meet this demand, our priority is to provide a platform that developers can easily manage themselves, yet tap into the speed, quality and efficiency of crowdtesting. This funding and move to the U.S. will enable us to build on the great momentum we started in Europe and position us to capture further market-share within the massive app and software development landscape.”

To that end, the startup says its platform is used by clients such as Volkswagen and Red Bull, and more than 500 developers, quality assurance personnel, product managers as a whole.