DudaMobile
Duda (formerly DudaMobile) is a software suite for creating optimized multi-screen websites primarily for small and medium-sized businesses. The company was founded in 2009 by Amir Glatt and Itai Sadan. Company headquarters are in Palo Alto, California. A research and development office is located in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Duda has partnered with companies such as Google, AT&T, Yahoo!, GoDaddy, Intuit and OpenTable.
Company history
Amir Glatt and Itai Sadan founded Duda in 2009.
Originally, Duda was a white label product. In 2011 the company made its self-service service available on its website, while still partnering with other companies. In August 2011 DudaMobile launched a mobile-friendly version of its mobile website builder.
In April 2012, as part of its “GoMo” initiative, Google announced that it would provide a free year of hosting to sites that optimize for the mobile web. DudaMobile was Google’s partner in this offer, providing the DIY mobile website for the GoMo service. Google also planned to offer free analytics as part of the deal.
Funding
Duda received an investment of more than $2 million in angel funds in January, 2010. The round was led by Oren Zeev with participation of additional investors such as Don Katz and Jeff Fluhr. In March 2012, Pitango contributed $6 million as part of Series B funding. Series C funding totaling $10.3 million was initiated in April 2013.
Duda planned to use the Series B funding to enhance its marketing and engineering departments. The company also planned to intensify its focus on small and medium businesses and entrepreneurs.
Management Team
- Itai Sadan, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder. Former Director at SAP.
- Amir Glatt, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder.
- Alan Keller, Chief Revenue Officer, joined April 2012. Former Vice President of Business Development at VerticalResponse
- Amit Knanni, Vice President of Product, joined January 2013. Former Head of Product at ooVoo
Presence on the mobile web
Duda estimated in 2011 that only 1.25 percent of sites are designed to display well on a mobile device. As of January 2012, the company had converted more than 1 million web sites.
Duda hosts more than 4 million mobile web sites. Users of the platform create 100,000-plus mobile-friendly sites each month. The company has also released statistics showing that restaurants and food services have been at the crest of the mobile wave, with more than a quarter of all conversions coming from this market sector.
Products and services
The Duda homepage features an interface for designing and publishing a mobile version of a website. Users have the choice to either enter their desktop site’s URL to create its mobile version, or design a completely new site from scratch just for the mobile web with the use of a template. The newly created mobile site can be modified with HTML and CSS, or through the use of a drag and drop editor. Sites designed on the DudaMobile platform or through a partner service are compatible with all smartphones. Analytics tools are available and mobile sites automatically sync to their desktop counterparts.
Partnerships
Duda has established partnerships with several companies, including Google, GoDaddy, Yahoo!, AT&T, OpenTable, DreamHost, Homestead/Intuit, Logoworks by HP and Webs, Inc.
GoDaddy.com launched its own mobile web optimization service in 2012 using DudaMobile’s software. Also in 2012, Google began its “GoMo” push, using the DudaMobile software to help small and medium businesses make the move to mobile-friendly websites. The partnership ended in March 2013. In late 2013 the company initiated a similar promotion with Yahoo!.
OpenTable, a reservation service for restaurants, announced a partnership with DudaMobile in the fall of 2012. Through the partnership, DudaMobile would provide mobile optimization for around 25,000 member restaurants.
DreamHost, a web hosting and cloud service for entrepreneurs and developers, announced a partnership with DudaMobile in September 2013.
Awards
Best Small and Medium Business Service of the Year - Best in Biz Awards
Best Technology Breakthrough - Mobile Excellence Awards
Best Interactive Services Mobile Website - Mobile Web Awards
Best Mobile Design Tool - Website Magazine
Best Mobile Website Builder - TopTenREVIEWS
OnMobile 50 Companies To Watch - AlwaysOn
Global 250 Top Private Companies to Watch - AlwaysOn
Social Responsibility/Emerging Markets (Runner-Up) - Mobile Merit Awards 2013
Silver Award (Mobile Websites - Business) - W3 Awards/International Academy of the Visual Arts
Best New Monetizing Solution - 2013 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Awards
Best Web Tool - Web Hosting Search