AltStore, one of the first third-party app stores to launch in the European Union, has announced plans to integrate with the fediverse while securing $6 million in Series A funding from Pace Capital. The investment gives the venture firm a 15% equity stake and will help AltStore expand its team and global reach.
Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, a strong supporter of the fediverse, will also join AltStore’s board. Founders Riley Testut and Shane Gill say the funding will enable the company to extend its operations to countries like Australia, Brazil, and Japan as new competition laws open up app marketplaces worldwide.
Since the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) forced Apple to allow third-party stores, AltStore has grown rapidly, offering apps like the Delta emulator and UTM virtual machine. The store has also partnered with Epic Games to host Fortnite and recently entered the adult app market with “Hot Tub,” its most popular app.
AltStore now hosts over 100 developers and has hundreds of thousands of users. Alongside its funding announcement, the company is launching its own Mastodon server on the ActivityPub protocol, allowing users to follow app updates directly from social platforms like Mastodon and Threads.
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To support the open social web, AltStore is donating $500,000 to fediverse projects, including Mastodon gGmbH, Bridgy Fed, Ivory, Tapestry, PeerTube, and others.
Testut described the move as “adding a social layer” to app discovery, enabling users to follow, like, and interact with apps in their social feeds.
