RevenueCat, a leading subscription management platform for apps monetized through in-app purchases, is now flush with new capital as it expands on the web. The company closed a $12 million Series C round led by Adjacent, following the launch of a new product, RevenueCat Billing, which allows web application developers to integrate subscription purchases into any site Web. Later it will also support Roku.
The timing of the product launch is notable, as it comes amid the implementation of the European Digital Markets Regulation (DMA), which requires Apple to re-open the iPhone and App Store. Therefore, Apple initially blocked web apps on iPhone (Progressive Web Apps, or PWA) in the EU, likely fearing that developers will abandon its App Store, before reconsider this decision under regulatory pressure.
For RevenueCat, however, the upcoming changes to iOS – not to mention Apple’s refusal to reduce its default commission rate from 15% to 30% – mean that there are now more developers turning to the web to monetize their applications.
“This could be for progressive web apps or any type of customer that wants to make payments outside of the App Store,” Jacob Eiting, CEO of RevenueCat, said of the new web billing product. “This will play into all new [DMA] rules…this is going to be a pretty significant product expansion for us.
The company says it moved in this direction due to interest from developers. Even if they didn’t have a web app, many developers wanted to move their customers to the web to pay.
Although Stripe already enables this feature, developers have been missing a system specifically designed for consumer subscription apps. Now, even if developers process payments through Stripe or others, they get their data and information in the same format and in the same dashboard where they already manage their in-app purchases data. This makes it easier for them to focus on how their subscription apps monetize overall, regardless of where the payment comes from, web or mobile.
Although Apple has historically not allowed app developers to direct customers to the web from their iOS apps, it has allowed driving from other channels, like the developer’s website or e-mails. -emails addressed to customers. EU DMA rules should also allow developers to direct customers to the Web also from their mobile applications.
With RevenueCat Billing, essentially a web SDK, developers can accept subscription payments from any website. It joins other recent product releases such as Paywall, Targeting, and Experiments, all of which are designed to help developers increase their revenue. RevenueCat manages subscriptions in more than 30,000 applications and manages more than $2 billion in subscriptions annually, it says.
Adjacent’s new Series C round (led by Series A investor Nico Wittenborn, now a board member) totals $12 million. Other investors include Y Combinator, Index Ventures, Volo Ventures and SaaStr Fund. Before this round,…
