Apus Group

Apus Group is an Android application development company founded in June 2014 by former Qihoo Vice President, Tao Li. Apus Group is responsible for applications such as Apus Launcher, Apus Boost, Apus Search, Apus Radar, Apus Notification and Apus Tools, which make up its User System.

Apus Group has raised RMB100 million (USD$16.3 million) in a Series A round of funding and employs 100 people in Beijing.

History

Tao Li is the founder and CEO of Apus Group. Prior to founding Apus Group, Li served as the Vice President of Qihoo from 2009-2014 and led the company's international division.

At the end of 2012, Qihoo became China's second-largest Internet search engine, overtaking Baidu's rivals by capturing 10.39% of the Chinese search engine market, driving Qihoo's US-listed STOCK up by more than 133% in 2013. Qihoo's success as a search engine can be linked to its dominance in anti-virus software which has 457 million users. According to Shanghai-based iResearch, monthly ACTIVE users of Qihoo 360's browsers reached 332 million, or 69.6% of Chinese netizens, in March 2013.

According to Forbes magazine, the market value of Qihoo 360 topped US$10 billion in January 2014. Qihoo 360 raked in net profit of US$44.5 million in Q3 of 2013, up 250% year-on-year.

Apus Launcher

Apus Launcher was released on the Google Play Store in July 2014. The Android application gained 30 million users within four months since launch, peaking at No. 1 in more than 30 countries in the Google Play Store with thirty-eight percent of its users in Asia.