Clari: apps built from other cloud apps
Clari is a platform for enterprise developers for writing mobile apps.
It's still in beta but eventually it will helps them write beautiful apps that can easily tap into a lot of different cloud services like Box, Dropbox, Evernote, Chatter, Salesforce.com
Recommended by: A number of VCs named it as hot. Jim Goetz, Sequoia.
Why it's hot: Goetz says, "Mobile-first enterprise app and cloud service bringing consumer grade design to business applications. The team's had $1B+ in successful exits and has really strong customer traction pre-release.
Relationship: Investor.
Expensify: Easy expense reports
Expensify is an app that does your expense reports.
Snap a picture of your receipt and it inputs that info, so you don't have to type it all in by hand.
Recommended by: A VC that didn't want to be named.
Why it's hot: The Valley has been buzzing about Expensify since 2008, when its alpha product won a prize at a TechCrunch conference. In 2009, the entire Expensify team went to Istanbul for a month and wrote an award-winning Salesforce.com Expensify application.
Relationship: No relation, just thinks the company is cool.
Workspot
Workspot lets enterprises instantly and securely give employees access corporate apps on a mobile devices.
It has even issued a challenge: Give them 60 seconds and they can get any enterprise app running on a mobile device.
Recommended by: Jerry Chen, Greylock Partners
Why it's hot: Chen says, "They are building enterprise app access for a mobile-first world. They do the important job of securing mobile access to legacy enterprise apps in addition to email and newer apps."
Relation: No relation, just thinks the company is cool.
Lookout Mobile: Security for smartphones
Lookout Mobile offers apps that keep smartphones and tablets secure.
It has developed a huge database on security threats for mobile devices and also offers a cloud service that lets developers tap into that database.
Recommended by: Joseph Ansanelli, Greylock Partners.
Why it's hot: Ansanelli says, "They're an enterprise mobile security app to protect smartphones and tablets from security risks and data breaches. Their goal is to make our devices more secure as we become more connected."
Relationship: Investor.
Pixate: Making iOS apps more beautiful
Pixate is a service that helps mobile app developers create beautiful iPhone apps.
Pixate gives its cloud service away for free and makes money by offering custom development services.
Recommended by: Andrew Braccia, Accel Partners
Why it's hot: Braccia says, "Pixate is revolutionizing the way native apps are designed and styled," Braccia says. Enterprise apps are increasingly being judged by consumer standards: how beautiful they look, easy they are to use. "Pixate has an opportunity to play a critical part in the way enterprise app developers go to market."
Relationship: Investor.
Roambi: A mobile alternative to Excel
Roambi is an app that lets you create charts, graphs and presentations on mobile devices.
It's a mobile alternative to PC-era software like Excel and PowerPoint.
Recommended by: Andrew Braccia, Accel Partners
Why it's hot: Braccia says, "Delivering clear, crisp design on mobile and tablet devices gives business users the information they need to act on the go. They're powering the new 'dynamic clipboard' for the data-driven enterprise."
Relationship: No relationship, just thinks the company is cool.
AirWatch: Keeping an eye on mobile devices
AirWatch helps enterprises track, secure and manage software on mobile devices whether they are owned by the company or the employee.
It's a hot category of software called "mobile device management."
Recommended by: Rich Wong, Accel Partners
Why it's hot: Wong says, AirWatch is a "leader in guiding the shift of enterprise to the mobile/post-pc era. They specialize in MDM mobile device management, have a booming business."
Relationship: Investor.
HasOffers: All about the mobile ads
HasOffers offers a service called MobileAppTracking, that does what its name implies: tracks how well ad campaigns are working on mobile devices.
Recommended by: Rich Wong, Accel Partners
Why it's hot: Wong says, "The software allows mobile marketers to measure and optimize their mobile ad spending."
Relationship: Investor.
Flurry: watches how apps are used
Flurry is a service that lets app developers see what people are doing with their apps and, ideally, how to make money with the app through advertising or other means.
Recommended by: Rich Wong, Accel Partners
Why it's hot: Wong says, "Flurry is a leader in general mobile analytics."
Relationship: No relationship, just thinks the company is cool.
Appurify: Finding bugs before customers do
Appurify is a service that lets app developers test their apps to find bugs, a service called "test automation framework."
Recommended by: Karim Faris, Google Ventures
Why it's hot: Faris says, "Makes sure your mobile app works on all iOS/Android devices before you release it in the wild."
Relationship: Investor.
Duo Security: Passwords via text
Duo Security is service that let's app developers make their apps more secure. It let's them include a two-step password in their apps.
That's when users can't log in until they get a special password sent to them by text or email. (In geek speak, that's called "two-factor authentication.")
Recommended by: Karim Faris, Google Ventures
Why it's hot: Faris says, "Your mobile device is your new key. Duo has developed the most usable two-factor authentication. Their service can be called by any mobile app to validate a user log-in or a payment transaction."
Relationship: Investor.
Wickr: the Snapchat for paranoid people
Wickr is an app that makes sure your messages, photos and videos stay private.
It lets you control over who can read messages, where and for how long. Although it can be used by consumers, because it uses military-grade encryption, it has a following of business users.
Recommended by: Ping Li, Accel Partners
Why it's hot: Li says, "Wickr is enabling enterprise messaging to be secure and encrypted – it’s the Snapchat for enterprises that need high-levels of security."
Relationship: No relationship, just thinks the company is cool.
Appcelerator: write one app for many devices
Appcelerator offers a bunch of tools for mobile app developers at enterprises.
It lets them write the app once and have it easily work on all devices (iOS, Android, BlackBerry ... even Tizen). It also helps them manage their apps when they create lots of them.
Recommended by: Karim Faris, Google Ventures
Why it's hot: Faris says, "Allows you to publish on both iOS and Android platform from a single codebase."
Relationship:No relationship, just thinks the company is cool.
Doubledutch: mobile apps for conferences
Doubledutch creates mobile apps for big corporate events.
The app covers things like the event's agenda, surveys and polls and can help turn conference attendees into leads for the organizer or exhibitors.
Recommended by: Karim Faris, Google Ventures
Why it's hot: Faris says, "Doubledutch is a cool custom CRM app for events and conferences."
Relationship: No relationship, just thinks the company is cool.
uTest: Real user crowdsourced app tests
uTest is a Massachusetts-based startup that does crowdsourced testing of mobile apps.
Recommended by: Our pick
uTest employs a "a community of 100,000 people" that can test a mobile app in the wild, using it just like real users would, Matt Johnston, chief marketing officer told us.
Why it's hot: It's customers include for companies like Google, Amazon, HBO, USA Today.
Xamarin: Microsoft tools for iOS/Android apps
Xamarin lets developers use the popular programing language C# to write one mobile app that works on all platforms, iOS, Android and Windows and Mac.
C# is a favorite language for programmers who like Microsoft development tools.
Recommended by: Our pick
Why it's hot: For one thing, Xamarin has powerful partners including Microsoft and Salesforce.com. For another, it was cofounded by Miguel de Icaza, a rock star in the open-source Linux world. The two-year old company already has 500,000 users, it says.
Interneer: Lets everyone write their own apps
Interneer offers a product that let's people write their own business iPhone and iOS apps, in minutes, with no programming involved.
The IT department installs the basic product and then business managers can create apps.
For instance, a hotel created an app that lets workers take pictures of items that need repair and schedules those repairs, founder Romeo Elias told Business Insider.
Recommended by: Our pick
Why it's hot: Interneer is an alternative to hiring expensive mobile app development consultants. And enterprises have eaten it up. It's landed a whole lot of paying customers. It raised $3.2 million in 2007, and hasn't had to raise more.
