The first mobile phone app Adam Ceresko and Andrew Herman made tracked public buses in State College. But their business has since shifted in both focus and location.
In October the duo’s company, Appek, moved to Scranton. And rather than concentrating on their own ideas for apps, they’re courting businesses that want apps developed for them. That switch came after investor Kristopher Jones of KBJ Capital in Wilkes-Barre told them that no company was focusing on the business-to-business app market.
Fresh off Appek’s announcement that it received a $50,000 investment from KBJ, it’s lining up business clients. For now the company is focusing on existing products that would benefit from an accompanying mobile application, well-funded startups and companies that want apps for their own purposes, not for the public. Apps for mobile tablets like the iPad are also part of Appek’s push.
“We’re trying to create a company that has local impact and global reach,” says Ceresko, who hails from the Scranton area. Over the next several months Appek plans to hire a “significant” number of full-time employees and summer interns, but specific figures haven’t been worked out. An office in Wilkes-Barre might also lie in the company’s future.
Eventually Appek hopes to build a platform that would allow smaller businesses think corner pizza shops to log onto Appek’s website and build their own mobile applications.
Source: Adam Ceresko, Appek
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen