Google Cloud Gets No-Code App Development With AppSheet Acquisition

'AppSheet complements Google Cloud’s strategy to reimagine the application development space with a platform that helps enterprises innovate with no-code development, workflow automation, application integration and API management as they modernize their business processes in the cloud,’ says Amit Zavery, Google Cloud’s vice business application platform.

Google has acquired AppSheet, a six-year-old Seattle startup that enables customers to build and distribute applications without writing a line of code.

The purchase aligns with Google Cloud’s push to redefine and democratize application development with a no-code app development platform for enterprises with a pent-up demand for automation, the companies said.

The competitive business landscape requires more applications to be built with greater speed and efficiency, but many companies lacks resources to address the challenges, according to Amit Zavery, Google Cloud’s vice business application platform.

“AppSheet’s ability to power a range of applications -- from CRM to field inspections and personalized reporting -- combined with Google Cloud’s deep expertise in key verticals, will further enable digital transformation across industries like financial services, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, communication, and media and entertainment,” Zavery said in a blog post today announcing the acquisition.

Google Cloud declined comment on terms of the deal. Founded in 2014, AppSheet has grown from 17 full-time employees at its Seattle headquarters to more than 40 in the last year. It’s received $18.5 million in total funding, including a $15 million Series A funding round announced last April that Shasta Ventures led with additional participation from New Enterprise Associates, a previous AppSheet investor.

Customers will be able to develop richer applications at scale that leverage Google technologies including Google Sheets, Google Forms, Android, Maps and Google Analytics and that integrate with cloud-hosted data sources including Salesforce, Dropbox, AWS DynamoDB and MySQL.

AppSheet’s team will join Google Cloud and continue to run its service across platforms, AppSheet CEO Praveen Seshadri said in his own blog post today.

“While we have always integrated deeply with G Suite and Google Cloud data sources, we will continue to support and improve our integrations with other cloud-hosted data sources like Office 365, Salesforce, Box, Dropbox and databases hosted in other clouds,” Seshadri said. “And while the majority of our mobile app users run on Android, we will continue to support and improve the way our apps run on iOS and on web browsers.”

AppSheet has been deployed in more than 190 countries. App creators used it to produce more than 490,000 new mobile and desktop applications in 2019, when it saw 100,000 new app creators and 190,000 new app users, according to the company.