Startup Everypoint emerges from stealth mode with new app platform: Nemo aimed at wireless application developers

Mobile data is exploding as consumers are flocking to cutting-edge, high-end software platforms like Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android. But Everypoint is hoping to gain traction with users – and, more importantly, developers – with a new offering for feature phones.
The Boston-based startup introduced Nemo, a platform designed to enable the creation, distribution and management of interactive multimedia applications for Java-enabled devices. Everypoint aims to bridge a disconnect between the impressive capabilities of modern feature phones and developers who haven’t had the tools to fully exploit those capabilities, according to CTO and founder Allan MacKinnon, a former Palm Inc. employee.
“I was at Palm on their wireless team when the Tungsten came out (in late 2002), and it was clear at that point that we had built this incredibly powerful device, this beefy device, but the hardware was completely outstripping the software,” said MacKinnon, who began building Nemo three years ago. “The features that were provided to the developers were almost nonexistent. I felt there was a tremendous gap between these otherwise functional, powerful devices” and the applications running on them.
Nemo is designed to support always-on applications that leverage full push-synch functionality, and the platform uses a protocol that sends only changes from the server instead of constantly pinging. It launches with 23 demo applications and – like the App Store and Android Market – includes a catalog that allows consumers to browse and download applications.
But Everypoint faces major challenges as it takes on Apple, Google and Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry, not to mention Java and BREW. The company must compete for the increasingly valuable attention of developers, who are constantly being wooed by high-profile platforms and big-money developer contests. Just as importantly, it must gain traction with consumers – which will be a tough task, given Everypoint has no carrier deals and isn’t embedded on any handsets, VisionMobile Research Director Andreas Constantinou observed.
“It’s far harder to attract developers, and almost impossible if you are a single software vendor with limited marketing funds,” Constantinou said via e-mail. “Lots of much larger companies have tried and most have failed. Today you need to invest major cash into developer marketing over one to two years to be successful – and that’s why Qualcomm, Nokia, Android and Microsoft are the only ones with vibrant developer programs. So all in all, Everypoint will need a major industry backer to succeed in attracting developer mindshare.”
The startup has snared $14 million in venture funding since 2005, however, and has grown to a staff of 16 full-timers. And Everypoint is targeting its offering not just at U.S. consumers but at users in developing markets where lowest-common-denominator handsets are the norm.
“If you look at all the growth in the world in China, India, Africa, there’s still a massive opportunity,” said MacKinnon. “If you look at the addressable market, the numbers are huge in the U.S., but amazingly huge in Asia.”
And Everypoint is looking to address two key market needs, Constantinou said. The company hopes to mirror high-profile application stores such as the App Store and Android Market – giving consumers a much-needed alternative to carrier decks – as it provides developers with a way to bridge gaps between Java ME implementations.
Nemo is a new strategy for Everypoint, a former developer of sports-oriented on-device portals including a Yahoo-branded offering centered on the 2006 World Cup.
“All in all I believe Nemo will either succeed spectacularly or fail into anonymity,” Constantinou noted. “OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are looking for the exact same capability (Java ME stopgap and Java app store), so there are some really good M&A opportunities there. Otherwise it will fail into anonymity, as with their previous effort of launching an ODP (on-device portal) with Yahoo.”
Article updated Dec. 15 to include analyst comments.