Today is a massive day for the Jest ecosystem.
Just three months after enabling in-app purchases on the platform, we have officially crossed a $1 million gross billings run rate. To capitalize on this explosive momentum and support the developers building on our platform, we are thrilled to announce Jest Fund II, offering up to $1 million in growth funding for mobile games and entertainment apps that use texting as their primary distribution channel.
The Distribution Challenge
AI has fundamentally changed software development—making it easier and faster than ever to build great apps. But distributing them? That remains the real challenge. Traditional app stores are completely saturated, user acquisition costs are soaring, and breaking through the noise is nearly impossible for most teams.
Jest offers a new and untapped paradigm for developers desperate for a viable alternative to legacy stores. As the first texting-powered app store, our platform leverages RCS to turn the everyday messaging inbox into an instant game and app distribution engine.
Our First State of Jest Report
To give developers and industry watchers a clear look into this growing ecosystem, we are publishing our very first State of Jest report. This new resource provides a comprehensive breakdown of platform performance and details how leveraging the RCS standard makes Jest a premier surface for launching mobile games and entertainment apps.
Here is a snapshot of what we are seeing across the platform:
- Strong Monetization: Jest boasts a 15% payer conversion rate among active US users, outperforming standard mobile app benchmarks by nearly 5x.
- Deep Engagement: Average daily time spent on the platform has tripled since Q2 to 24 minutes per user, proving strong daily habit formation and retention via texting.
- Accelerating Adoption: Usage has scaled by 400%, jumping from 1 million to over 4 million total apps and games played.
You can dive into the complete data and insights by reading the full State of Jest Q3 report here: about.jest.com/report.
Announcing Jest Fund II
To fuel this ecosystem, we’re launching our second developer fund.
Our debut fund earlier this year saw overwhelming demand—receiving over 200 applications, accepting under 10%, and doubling our active catalog from 30 to 60 apps. This initial growth capital provided the resources our first cohort needed to rapidly launch, test, and scale their titles. As Efe Kucuk, Head of Gaming at Trilitech, shared about their breakout game, Orbo:
“The Jest Fund gave Orbo the early distribution rocket fuel we needed. The Jest platform offers better economics than the legacy mobile app stores, higher engagement, and a team that actually supports developers… Jest provided the exact capital and support to take our game from early concept to a runaway hit.”
Fund II is designed to back developers across three stages of growth, from concept to scale:
- Explore: Dedicated to early validation, rapid prototyping, and experimental concepts to test what resonates with audiences in a texting interface.
- Scale: Allocated for promising apps and games to deepen platform testing on their path to becoming flagships.
- Flagship: Reserved for breakout successes, established franchises, and high-performing titles ready to grow.
Beyond growth capital, we offer industry-leading economics, where developers retain up to 90% of net revenue, while Jest subsidizes all messaging fees. We also provide the complete infrastructure out of the box—from payments and notifications to authentication and compliance. You can adapt your existing web or mobile apps and go to market in days, without worrying about carrier integrations or backend complexity.
There has never been a better time to build on Jest:
- 👉 Learn more and apply for the Jest Fund here: about.jest.com/fund/
- 👉 Check out our docs here: docs.jest.com/.