Business Showcase : Appenate

By @SimonCocking

Describe the company – the elevator pitch …

Appenate enables non-programmers to rapidly create and deploy data-driven apps that digitise, mobilise and optimise business processes. Typical applications include data capture, field work and reporting, across a wide range of industries.

How are you different?

We go beyond forms; not only can you build useful data collection apps on our platform, but you also have the ability to create menus, dashboards and listing screens too. This opens up amazing possibilities for creating deep and productive apps that address the need to access information as well as capture data.
We also provide full end-to-end white label capabilities which gives the customer the ability to re-brand our technology as their own.

Why will the company/product do well?

We’re an agile company that’s globally focused and our product development is heavily driven by customer feedback. We also believe that customer support is a critical business function, so much so that we rotate our best people – including developers and even our CEO – through our support team. Our team also gets a kick out of helping customers identify areas of opportunity and helping improve their productivity!

Where are you based?

We’re headquartered in Brisbane, Australia with a team in South Africa as well. Appenate operates as a distributed company, so our approach is to have team members working remotely from multiple locations around the world.

When was the company launched?

2011

What type of people (market segment) are you trying to attract to your product?

We love working with solutions providers and vendors in the IT Channel, and more recently we have been enjoying engaging more directly with Enterprise clients too.

Tell us about your team?

Being a small company, we expect all team members to be ready and able to learn fast, customer-centric and work across many aspects.

We have embraced the concept of a distributed company, with all team members working either from home or out of co-working spaces (or the beach, mountains, cafe, whatever). We all hang out in HipChat and Skype, so are in constant contact with the whole team.

We get everyone together 2-3 times a year for a few days, so that we can work and socialise face to face.

Working for Appenate is an awesome lifestyle change in that you get to skip the daily commute to an office and have working hours and location flexibility.

We’re also a pretty fun bunch to be around 🙂

What are your long term plans for your product/company?

At the moment we’re focused on listening to our customers and building features that they need. Longer term, we’d love to see a vibrant ecosystem grow up around Appenate, allowing more businesses to be built on top of our platform.

We also hope to keep powering apps which allow many more people to focus on their jobs rather than being stuck doing paperwork!

What are your favourite tech gadgets?

Plume: a wearable device that tracks pollution around you.
Griffin Connected Toaster: has slider on the app that lets you micromanage how toasty your bread is.
Milo Sensors: wristband that detects various chemicals in your body based on perspiration from your skin.
Kuri: adorable little robot designed for housework.
Motiv’s Fitness Tracking Ring: titanium-encased device tracks sleep and fitness, including steps, calories and distance, and heart rate.
Sony’s new 4K HDR OLED TV (A1E series): has an edge-to-edge design and is stand-less — meaning it sits directly on the ground and has a back leg that it leans against. It has no speakers – sound will come from the screen itself using new technology it is calling Acoustic Surface.
Apple’s HomePod: a voice-controlled speaker that can make music suggestions and adjust home temperatures.

What tech gadgets do you wish you could use to help you?

Polaroid Pop: a photo-printing camera that returns to Polaroid’s iconic 3? x 4? size. On the rear of the device is a 3.97-inch touchscreen LCD, allowing you to see your shot before it develops.

ODG’s AR/VR Smart Glasses: augmented/virtual reality smart glasses for high-end smart glasses applications.

Anything else you’d like to add/we should have asked?

Something we’re very proud of is that we’re 100% self-funded – so we have not taken on any outside investment. A lot of other companies in the space are driven by their investors’ desire to get a quick return and cash out, whereas we’re building a sustainable business and platform for the long term. We find this self-made, customer-focused mentality really resonates with our customers.

How do people get in touch with you?

You’re welcome to contact us via email: hello@appenate.com or on our website www.appenate.com

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at Simon@IrishTechNews.ie or on Twitter: @SimonCocking