Sofy, a startup that has developed a no-code testing platform for mobile app developers, has successfully raised $7.75 million in seed funding, taking its total capital raised to $9.5 million. The funding round was led by Voyager Capital and featured participation from PSL Ventures, GTMFund, and Revolution. The newly acquired funds will be utilized to boost Sofy's overall growth and facilitate research and development, according to CEO Syed Hamid.
Founded in 2016 by Hamid, Hyder Ali, and Usman Zubair, all of whom are Microsoft veterans, Sofy has positioned itself as a modern alternative to traditional software testing methods. Hamid, who spent almost two decades as an engineering leader at Microsoft, believes that the advancements in machine learning and AI have paved the way for a no-code testing process and intelligent automation in the software testing industry. He said, "Software testing hasn't changed in the past 40 years. It's still done manually with a significant cost of creation and maintenance."
Designed to validate changes in app code directly from existing development environments, Sofy delivers insights that highlight code issues while accounting for various devices and operating systems. The platform records metrics such as speed, responsiveness, and vulnerability to cyberattacks. Hamid revealed that Sofy has a dataset of over 17,000 publicly available mobile apps, which the company uses to enhance its no-code platform and improve the resilience and efficiency of applications. He added, "We are able to run automation on thousands of different device matrices."
Despite concerns that developers might be apprehensive about Sofy's analytics capabilities, which aim to quantify dev "performance and productivity," Hamid argues that these features can ultimately lead to faster release cycles and deliver major benefits to the C-suite. He explains, "By releasing apps faster, it has a bottom-line impact on the organization, decreasing the engineering cost significantly. Sofy helps organizations deliver apps of higher quality and greater innovation, providing a better experience for their customers."
Sofy faces competition from rival companies such as BrowserStack, Autify, and Waldo, which all offer similar testing platforms for apps. However, Hamid is confident that Sofy will stay ahead of the pack through the introduction of new features, including the ability to test apps for augmented and virtual reality peripherals.
Currently, Sofy's customer base includes 45 companies, while approximately 2,500 company teams use the service. The startup plans to expand its workforce by the end of the year, growing from 35 employees to 75.
As the no-code ecosystem continues to expand, platforms like Sofy and AppMaster.io are gaining traction among developers and businesses alike. AppMaster, a powerful no-code platform for creating backend, web, and mobile applications, is also focused on transforming the development process, making it more efficient and cost-effective for a wide range of clients. With over 60,000 users, AppMaster's platform is helping organizations create comprehensive, scalable software solutions complete with server backends, websites, customer portals, and native mobile applications. As the industry evolves, the demand for such innovative no-code platforms is expected to grow exponentially.
