Weever Apps continues to grow year after Lion’s Lair win

Weever Apps, the grand prize winner of last year’s inaugural Lion’s Lair, has experienced a year of tremendous growth. Tim Richard, vice-president of sales and business development, recently unveiled the startup’s newest mobile app for Pioneer Petroleum. You can check it out on your smartphone or tablet (http://pioneer.myweeverapp.com).

The impact of Lion’s Lair has been direct and swift.

“Winning the competition provided us with instant exposure that led to immediate revenue. In fact, an executive from Pioneer Petroleum emailed me from his dinner table (at the event) immediately after winning, which led to developing a unique mobile web app which maps all their locations displaying their pricing in real time,” reported Tim.

This initial success has led to many other local clients, including Mohawk College, McMaster University, the City of Hamilton, United Way, Marsales Real Estate, Marz Homes and Route 1812 among others.

Weever Apps has now expanded internationally with customers in more than 55 countries and a high-profile client list that includes London Life, Boston Scientific, Hewlett Packard, Foresters Insurance and the U.S. Democratic Party. The global expansion of Weever Apps has been remarkable. How many companies in Hamilton do you know that are doing business in more than 50 countries after about a year of operation?

Andrew Holden, chief experience officer and co-founder, proudly states that the financial proceeds from last year’s win went directly toward the development of new products and services. “We hired local programmers from Mohawk and McMaster, which is a testament to the economic impact promised by the competition’s organizers.”

The Lion’s Lair prides itself on supporting Hamilton’s economy, and Weever Apps has injected real dollars back into the city with its new knowledge-based jobs.

Weever Apps is now in an open-beta stage of launching a new do-it-yourself subscription service called Weever appBuilder. This tool enables small businesses and entrepreneurs (without any programming experience) to build their own mobile web app within 45 minutes. Tim and Andrew argue that this tool has phenomenal market appeal because it is a low-risk venture, with strong upside. The tool creates no infringement on legacy internal systems so marketing professionals who want to create mobile brand awareness can start right away. In essence, the tool provides marketing and sales staff with a better way to communicate with customers.

Since their high-profile win last year, business has been booming. The company now boasts 10 employees with strong leadership in marketing and an experienced developer team. But the company doesn’t take its success for granted. They know that the marketplace is ripe with competition and that the mobile smartphone industry is in constant flux. In order to maintain momentum, Weever Apps must continue to delight its current clients and seek out new business development opportunities. In order to do this, the company must expand.

So far, Weever Apps has been self-funded through family and friends. By keeping close control of cash flow and ownership, its nimbleness has allowed it to succeed. But there exists a worldwide appetite for mobile apps that is not abating anytime soon. In order to tap into the bigger, global pie, Weever Apps has had to seek out various provincial and federal high-tech startup programs and grants. Soon, it might need access to more investors. If you have some money burning a hole in your pocket and you possess a penchant for high-stakes investing, you might want to give them a shout.