In-app marketing startup Insert raises $10M

Insert is the new startup from the team behind app development company Worklight (which was acquired by IBM for $70 million). Today it’s announcing that it has raised $10 million in Series A funding.

Insert CEO Shahar Kaminitz said that where Worklight (where he was founder and former CEO) was focused on “the core development of the application,” he’s come to realize that the non-core parts of the app should be separated and made accessible to marketers and product designers.

“I want to give them the ability to independently add features to the app live, without any developer involvement,” Kaminitz said. “They should be able to actually execute their ideas. That’s what Insert is all about.”

This seems to tie into a common theme of giving marketers more power to act without the help of a developer. In the case of Insert, Kaminitz explained that if you’re a retailer, you wouldn’t use the platform for “the core, unique functionality of your application” (such as your shopping cart), but you could use it to add things like demo videos, surveys or graphics that highlight certain features in the app.

Those features can be added through Insert’s visual editor with no coding, and without requiring any app store updates or approval.

Insert launched in February and is already being used by Barclays to improve its mobile banking app. In fact, Kaminitz said he’s found that “the larger the company, the bigger the problem” — because bigger companies have longer, more complex development cycles.

The new funding comes from Battery Ventures, with Battery’s Itzik Parnafes joining the Insert board. Kaminitz said that among other things, this will allow the company (which is headquartered in Tel Aviv) to expand its U.S. presence and open an office in New York City.