Taobao Launches New Taobao App Store

source from: http://news.alibaba.com/article/detail/alibaba/100237896-1-taobao-launches-new-taobao-app.html

Company invests RMB10 million in top 30 applications

BEIJING, January 15, 2010 -- Taobao, the largest online shopping destination in China, has launched the Taobao App Store and will invest RMB10 million (US$1.46 million[1]) to foster promising independent software developers via the Taobao Open Platform (TOP) fund every year.  The Taobao App Store (http://app.taobao.com) will offer solutions created by independent developers through TOP for Taobao merchants and consumers.  The first batch of applications available in the store is the top 30 applications identified through the “Win at Taobao” competition held by TOP.

“With an increasing number of third-party developers registering and the emergence of exceptional software on TOP, the Taobao App Store will serve as an incubator of innovative technology for Taobao users,” says Wang Wenbin, vice president of Taobao Open Platform. “The Taobao App Store is a convenient channel for developers, investors and customers to interact directly and it will ultimately allow the market to evaluate the independent developers’ creations.”

The Taobao App Store will offer products across a range of categories to meet the needs of all Taobao users, including tools for sellers and buyers; extensions for Taobao community sites; tools for product recommendation; and mobile phone applications.  For Taobao sellers, the applications will aim to improve their business management and back-end operation functionality while buyers will be offered tools to improve their shopping experience.  Software developers will be able to generate revenue from their applications through subscription fees, commissions or advertising, depending on the type of service offered and popularity of the product.

Established in October 2009, the TOP fund will make an annual investment of RMB10 million to foster and encourage innovation in online application development among independent developers.  The TOP fund aims to incentivize independent developers to create original and novel tools for Taobao users and support their growth on TOP.  The TOP fund is jointly financed by Taobao, Alibaba Group and outside investors.  Several external parties including government entities in China and around the world, funds and investment companies have expressed interest in becoming potential investors.

The top three winners of the “Win at Taobao” competition, launched in September 2009, will receive investments from the TOP fund totaling RMB5 million (US$732,000).  Another RMB5 million of investments will be shared among the rest of the top 30 contestants.  As of December 31, 2009, more than 25,000 independent software developers have registered on TOP and more than 4,000 applications have been created using the application programming interface (API) provided on TOP.