PALO ALTO, Calif., May 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Branch, the industry’s leading linking and measurement partner for growth-focused teams, today announces the release of Branch Advanced Compliance, a premium solution that provides enhanced security, privacy and data measures for customers in heavily regulated industries like healthcare. For over a decade, Branch has pioneered the development of privacy-first products and services that respect and protect end-user data. In alignment with evolving guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Branch Advanced Compliance offers enhanced security and privacy measures to help customers satisfy their HIPAA obligations.

“To remain competitive in today’s market, healthcare companies need to invest in innovative technology that drives consistent patient experiences while still safeguarding data and alleviating privacy concerns,” shared Irina Bukatik, VP of products, Branch. “Advanced Compliance is a leap forward for healthcare organizations that want to prioritize mobile app growth and user engagement while confidently navigating regulation requirements and meeting HIPAA compliance goals.”

The use of mobile devices and applications in the healthcare industry is steadily increasing as patients expect their healthcare information to be more accessible. However, a majority of surveyed patients (75%) are still concerned about protecting the privacy of their data.

The ability to provide patients with access to data while maintaining compliance is top of mind for healthcare executives and C-suite leaders. Eighty-seven percent identified shifting government regulations as a disruption to their business, and 70% reported that patient demands directly impact their firms’ long-term strategies. Meanwhile, over half (54%) of surveyed healthcare leaders recognized that having the right partner can help them navigate these complex industry changes.

With Advanced Compliance, Branch benefits leading healthcare enterprises by:

• Offering enhanced data privacy features to meet the highest standards of security and compliance for secure handling of Protected Health Information (PHI).
• Driving and measuring user engagement with reliable links that ensure proper and safe attribution within a protected data architecture.
• Minimizing cost to serve with streamlined mobile experiences that reduce the need for support tickets and high-volume customer service calls, thereby decreasing operational expenses.
• Formalizing commitment by signing a Business Associate Agreement (BAA), where Branch agrees to process certain limited individually identifying health information on behalf of a Covered Entity in compliance with HIPAA rules.

“At Branch, we measure success by our impact on our customers’ ability to grow their businesses,” said Paula Mantle, VP of marketing, Branch. “Being the first mobile attribution provider to offer a HIPAA-eligible solution is a testament to the industry-leading partnership and solutions Branch provides that empower our customers to create secure and seamless experiences for their users.”

Branch’s Advanced Compliance solution is available to enterprise contract customers seeking to comply with HIPAA regulations. To learn more about how Branch and Advanced Compliance can help drive digital user acquisition and make a measurable impact on your business, visit our website and read more on our blog.

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“Branch has always prioritized building a high-performing, award-winning organization and culture that attracts top talent,” said Mada Seghete, Branch board member and co-founder. “David’s wealth of industry expertise and experience as a strategic leader is a natural fit to lead the company into its next phase of growth.”

As an executive leader and marketing technology industry veteran with over 25 years of experience, David has a proven record as a scalable team builder and world-class operator at Adobe, Efficient Frontier, Yahoo! and Overture. Most recently he served as a strategic advisor and interim Chief Revenue Officer at Pantheon. He has also served on the Boards of Demandbase, Vantiv, Quantifind and JumpTap, along with Senior Advisory appointments at Redpoint Ventures, and TPG Capital.

“Branch has long been a pioneer of solutions that support evolving digital strategies to drive impactful growth for its customers,” shared David Karnstedt, Chief Executive Officer. “I’m excited to continue to raise the bar and lead this incredible team to expand the value we bring to customers and partners.” 

Additional strategic hires and appointments
Irina Butatik has been named VP of products to lead innovation and shape Branch’s product vision.

Rick Johnson has been named VP of finance to lead Branch’s financial strategy and operations.

Stephanie Herndon-Rasse has been named VP of customer experience to lead programs that nurture Branch customers’ journeys.

Mada Seghete, Branch co-founder, has been elected to the Branch Board of Directors. She joins other notable advisors and investors including Scott Sandell (NEA) and Zach Coelius (Coelius Capital).

About Branch
Branch is the linking and measurement partner for growth-focused teams, trusted to maximize the value of their evolving digital strategies. World-class brands like Instacart, Western Union, NBCUniversal, Zocdoc and Sephora rely on Branch to acquire users, retain customers and drive more conversions.

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“At Branch, we believe that delivering a superior mobile experience is one of the most impactful strategies for companies looking to boost their business,” said Adam Landis, Head of Growth at Branch. “This year’s unprecedented number of submissions is a reflection of the pivotal role that mobile plays in today’s business environment. We’re excited to celebrate these winners and shine a light on how global brands are leveraging innovative mobile technologies to create world-class user experiences.”

The 2023 Mobile Growth Award winners are:

• Best QR Code Campaign — NBCUniversal Local
• Best App Adoption Campaign — END. Clothing
• Best Mobile Growth Campaign — Hallow
• Best Mobile Retention Campaign — Target (Australia)
• Best Ad Conversion Campaign — Baazi Games
• Best Social Engagement Campaign — Domino’s Pizza (Indonesia)
• Best Use of Personalization — Rakuten
• Best Use of a Strategic Partnership — Airship + Optus

“Whether it’s in an in-store or online environment, it’s clear that companies that are led by customer-centric insights and data are well positioned to improve across all facets of their business,” shared Phil O’Hagan, Head of Product at Sainsbury’s. “It was an honor to serve as a judge for the 2023 Mobile Growth Awards and review campaigns that demonstrated how companies are truly thinking outside of the box to add value for their customers.”

For companies interested in learning how Branch is helping businesses drive a measurable impact on digital user acquisition, read more on our website. To learn more about the Mobile Growth Awards and winners, visit our blog.

About Mobile Growth Awards
Branch Mobile Growth Awards recognize and celebrate brands that are making remarkable strides in the field of mobile growth. Winners represent innovative global teams that successfully leveraged Branch products to drive mobile growth. Submissions are scored by independent judges based on campaign creativity, innovative thinking, consumer value and results related to KPIs.

About Branch
Branch is the linking and measurement partner for growth-focused teams, trusted to maximize the value of their evolving digital strategies. World-class brands like Instacart, Western Union, NBCUniversal, Zocdoc and Sephora rely on Branch to acquire users, retain customers and drive more conversions.

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As advertisers and marketers look to leverage the cloud to innovate and lean into digital transformation, they are increasingly looking for partners with services and solutions purpose-built to meet their needs. AWS Advertising and Marketing Technology Competency Partners like Branch provide customers such as advertising agencies, marketers, publishers, advertising or marketing technology providers and analytics service providers with AWS validated solutions and services that help accelerate their advertising and marketing transformation. An added benefit for customers migrating or building advertising and marketing workloads on AWS is the number of integrations and distribution channels connecting shared data with flexibility and interoperability. Branch is powered by AWS to support use cases in this industry.

• No matter the channel — apps, email, paid ads, social media, influencers, CTV, QR codes, mobile web or desktop — Branch’s continued investment in linking technology ensures an adaptable, fully-featured solution that covers even the most complex customer journeys. 
• Branch provides crucial visibility into what works and what doesn’t, so growth-focused teams can direct spend and efforts for the highest ROI. 
• With best practices honed in partnership with hundreds of world-class brands, Branch’s expertise enables us to react quickly to industry changes, so marketers and advertisers don’t have to choose between performance and compliance.

Achieving the AWS Advertising and Marketing Technology Competency differentiates Branch as an AWS Partner Network (APN) member with demonstrated technical proficiency and proven customer success in running cloud solutions on AWS for the advertising and marketing industry. This program showcases advertising and marketing technology consulting and software AWS Partners who have domain knowledge and are providing cloud services powered by AWS. To receive the designation, AWS Partners must undergo a rigorous technical validation by AWS solution architects and have verified customer references. 

“Branch is extremely proud to achieve the AWS Advertising and Marketing Technology Competency in  Advertising Intelligence and Measurement,” said Michelle Geltman, Sr. Director Business Development at Branch. “By leveraging the agility, breadth of services and pace of innovation that AWS provides, our team is dedicated to helping maximize the value of evolving digital strategies so growth-oriented teams can acquire users, retain customers and drive higher conversions.”

“Our partnership with Branch has been a game-changer for Jersey Mike’s. With their insights, we’ve gained a deeper understanding of our customer journey, attributing revenue to specific channels like push and text messages. Branch has not only improved our overall customer experience but also helped us connect the dots between downloads, sales, and our digital marketing efforts, paving the way for a more successful and streamlined strategy,” said Kelly McGee, Director of Digital Marketing at Jersey Mike’s.

AWS is enabling scalable, flexible and cost-effective solutions from startups to global enterprises. To support the seamless integration and deployment of these solutions, the AWS Competency Program helps customers identify which AWS Partner solutions and services are powered by AWS for specific industry use cases. For a specific industry solution to meet a need, explore the AWS Partner solutions and/or services offered in AWS Marketplace or APN Partners, including Branch. 

About Branch

Branch is the linking and measurement partner for growth-focused teams, trusted to maximize the value of their evolving digital strategies. World-class brands like Instacart, Western Union, NBCUniversal, Zocdoc and Sephora rely on Branch to acquire users, retain customers and drive more conversions.

Contact: press@branch.io

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PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 13, 2022 – Branch (https://branch.io/), the leader in mobile linking and measurement, can now provide brands and agencies with insight into app engagement and events coming from organic search traffic with the release of SEO App Attribution. This first-of-its-kind solution alleviates many of the pain points associated with measuring SEO efforts.

“SEO drives millions of dollars in value for brands,” said Jason White, SEO Center of Excellence, PMG. “Being able to further prove SEO’s value and ROI in the context of mobile app engagement is critical. Unlocking the mobile app ecosystem for SEO is an important challenge, and we’re excited that Branch can help solve this by accurately measuring and attributing organic search to in-app activity.”

SEO App Attribution identifies app activities driven by most major search engines including Google, Yahoo! and DuckDuckGo. The solution provides reliable attribution in a traditionally hard-to-measure channel. As a result, it protects against misattribution, wasted spend and underinvestment in SEO. Brands and agencies can now better understand SEO channel performance. In turn, this allows them to make insightful strategic decisions with a more complete view across channels.

“Mobile SEO has historically had many blind spots, specifically around the app, but a recent internal study showed that nearly a fifth of all owned and earned app events are actually originating from organic search,” said Alex Austin, CEO and Co-founder, Branch. “Our new solution gives unprecedented visibility into the flow of traffic from search into the app, shining a light in the dark. It will allow brands to optimize mobile search with accurate attribution on who ends up in the app and what actions they take, improving decision-making and giving marketers their due, all without needing additional developer resources or impacting search rankings.”

This better understanding of the marketing impact of SEO allows brands and agencies to optimize omnichannel decision-making. In addition, brands and agencies can also target organic website visitors with smart banners to bridge the gap between SEO traffic and app conversions.

SEO App Attribution is available now. Learn more here.

About Branch

Branch provides the industry’s leading mobile linking and measurement platforms, unifying user experience and attribution across devices and channels. Branch has been selected by over 100,000 apps since 2014 including Adobe, BuzzFeed, Yelp and many more, improving experiences for more than 3 billion monthly users across the globe.

Contact: press@branch.io

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PALO ALTO, Calif., July 19, 2022 – Branch, the leader in mobile linking and measurement, has acquired Nova Launcher, the most popular Android launcher, and Sesame Universal Search, a fast-growing, on-device search engine for Android. The two acquisitions enable Branch to continue to capitalize on the tremendous opportunity to create new and better ways for users to discover and engage with apps. The collaboration will extend the value of Branch’s network of over 300 billion mobile links.

“The mobile ecosystem is incredibly constrained with walled gardens controlling app distribution and access,” said Alex Austin, CEO and Co-founder of Branch. “Nova and Sesame have pushed the boundaries of what Android can deliver, and we’re excited to collaborate with their teams to further develop and scale the future of app discovery.”

Kevin Barry, Founder, and Cliff Wade, Community Manager, from Nova, as well as Phil Wall, Co-founder, and Steve Blackwell, Co-founder, from Sesame have joined Branch to continue to develop both platforms and support the community of millions who use their respective apps daily.

“Nova has been a hugely satisfying project to work on, but I have often wanted to work on something with an even bigger scope,” said Kevin Barry, founder of Nova Launcher. “When Branch first approached me in 2018, I saw potential, and when we reconnected more recently, I saw success. My first priority is still to the Nova community and maintaining Nova Launcher as the launcher it’s always been, but I’m excited to bring new features of bigger scope to Nova and contribute to a larger platform.”

“At Sesame we always had more good user requests than we could build,” said Phil Wall, Co-founder of Sesame. “Now we’ve got resources. With Branch’s vision and Steve and Kevin on board, I think we’ll make something very cool.”

Branch is excited to work with the founders of both apps who will remain fundamental to the roadmap and engagement of communities built by Nova and Sesame.

About Branch

Branch provides the industry’s leading mobile linking and measurement platforms, unifying user experience and attribution across devices and channels. Branch has been selected by over 100,000 apps since 2014 including Adobe, BuzzFeed, Yelp and many more, improving experiences for more than 3 billion monthly users across the globe.

Branch, Branch Metrics, and the Branch Tree logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of affiliated companies of Branch Metrics, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other company, brand and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Media Contact: Paula Mantle, press@branch.io

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SAN FRANCISCO, June 28, 2022 – Branch, the leading omni-channel platform for mobile linking and mobile measurement, and the Puma Group, the third largest sportswear manufacturer in the world, have partnered to successfully launch and grow Puma’s first global e-commerce app. The companies will work together to drive fans and consumers to the Puma app by providing a reliable and personalized user experience, including allowing users to jump directly to the app content they want to see.

“Launching a mobile app is a huge initiative for the company and one our customers have been asking for,” said Jason Isenberg, Global Head of Digital Consumer Experiences, Puma. “In order to deliver the high-quality mobile experience our customers expect, we had to find a technology partner that could guarantee a seamless experience between platforms and the ability to help us identify and grow our user base. Branch is just that partner, and we have been extremely pleased with the results to date.”

Initially, Puma’s work with Branch will focus on three key areas:

• Web-to-App – Puma will use Branch’s web-to-app smart banners (called ‘Journeys’) to guide customers from the Puma website into the Puma app. This will drive new app installs and dynamically target users based on engagement level.
• Email – Using Branch’s Universal Email product, Puma will add dynamic deep links and mobile attribution to its customer relationship management (CRM) campaigns. This will increase engagement, reduce churn and improve conversions by allowing elements like one-click to order.
• Social – Using Branch, all Puma social links will be able to deep link out of social platforms and into the Puma app content. This will further drive app conversion and engagement while also unlocking new revenue streams.

“Puma is a trusted brand to millions of consumers worldwide and we are thrilled they have selected Branch to help guide them through the mobile ecosystem,” said Mirko Brinker, Director Central EMEA, Branch. “Using our dynamic linking infrastructure, Puma will be able to provide its customers with a frictionless mobile experience, while also securing access to cross-channel attribution insights, which will help inform their plans for future campaigns.”

Puma is rolling out its app market by market, starting with India where it launched in early June.

About Branch

Branch provides the industry’s leading mobile linking and measurement platforms, unifying user experience and attribution across devices and channels. Branch has been selected by over 100,000 apps since 2014 including Adobe, BuzzFeed, Yelp and many more, improving experiences for more than 3 billion monthly users across the globe.

About Puma

PUMA is one of the world’s leading sports brands, designing, developing, selling and marketing footwear, apparel and accessories. For more than 70 years, PUMA has relentlessly pushed sport and culture forward by creating fast products for the world’s fastest athletes. PUMA offers performance and sport-inspired lifestyle products in categories such as Football, Running and Training, Basketball, Golf and Motorsports. It collaborates with renowned designers and brands to bring sport influences into street culture and fashion. The PUMA Group owns the brands PUMA, Cobra Golf and stichd. The company distributes its products in more than 120 countries, employs about 16,000 people worldwide and is headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany.

Media Contact:
Paula Mantle
press@branch.io

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PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 10, 2022 – Branch (https://branch.io/), the leading cross-platform solution for mobile linking and attribution, has secured $300M in funding at a $4B valuation, led by existing investor NEA. Branch, which has over 500 employees and 16 offices around the globe, has been used by more than 100,000 mobile brands since its founding in 2014, directly reaching more than 3 billion monthly users around the world.

“We spend more than a third of our waking hours on our phones, with over 90% of that time spent in apps,” said Alex Austin, CEO of Branch. “Despite this, many apps are struggling to survive as they contend with changes in the mobile ecosystem, from privacy changes like ATT to the explosion of new device types. Branch is committed to helping companies overcome these new ecosystem challenges by expanding our product offerings to reflect this new normal, while still maintaining our commitment to user privacy.”

Branch is using its new financing to double down on product investments, including:

• Expanding its mobile linking platform (MLP) to help brands unlock new ways to grow through owned and organic channels, as well as better integrate mobile as cross-device and offline-to-online crossover experiences become the norm
• Growing its mobile measurement partner (MMP) solutions for paid media, providing customers with privacy-first measurement that navigates mobile advertising in a post-IDFA world
• Accelerating its research into new solutions to improve app discovery and move the mobile ecosystem forward

“Since the day I met Alex, Mike, Mada and Dmitri during the seed investment, I knew this company would be something special,” said Scott Sandell, Managing General Partner at NEA. “They laid out a huge vision to transform the mobile ecosystem, and it’s been exhilarating to watch it all come true. This is a generational company in the making.”

About Branch

Branch provides the leading cross-platform linking and attribution platform, offering solutions that unify user experience and measurement across devices and channels. Branch powers mobile links and cross-platform measurement to more than 3 billion monthly users across the globe, and has been selected by over 100,000 apps since 2014 — including Adobe, BuzzFeed, Yelp, and many more.

About NEA

New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. With nearly $24 billion in cumulative committed capital since the firm’s founding in 1977, NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company’s lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm’s long track record of successful investing includes more than 230 portfolio company IPOs and more than 390 mergers and acquisitions. www.nea.com.

Contact: press@branch.io

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