Localytics, the Boston-based app analytics and marketing company, turned heads last month when it raised $35 million in a Series D round. The influx of cash — it’s raised $58 million in total — made Localytics the most well-funded startup to come out of the competitive Techstars accelerator program.

Today, it’s become clearer what that money could be going toward: the company announced the acquisition of Splitforce, a three-year-old startup that helps companies test their apps, for an undisclosed sum.

One of the biggest issues facing mobile app developers is the concept of churn, or the fact that even when you’ve managed to convince someone to download your product to their smartphone, about 20 percent of users will never use the app more than once.

For the past several years, Localytics has gained traction in the crowded app marketplace for its use of predictive app marketing. The startup can detect the factors that determine whether someone will quit using an app and offer suggestions for keeping a user active, using tools like push notifications, coupons, or by driving them to new features, chief executive Raj Aggarwal said.

And while Localytics has been successful suggesting such options to its clients, Splitforce helps automates the process, using machine learning software to allow companies to do A/B testing with marketing campaigns. As a campaign begins to show promise, Splitforce’s algorithms adjust accordingly, and begin showcasing them to more users.

The Localytics team met New York-based Splitforce through the Techstars network; Splitforce originally launched out of Chinaccelerator, an accelerator in Singapore. The two teams immediately hit it off, Aggarwal said, and initial talks about partnership eventually led to the acquisition deal.

He sees Splitforce’s roots in Asia as instrumental to the company’s larger goals: “Their global reach is an important part of what they’re bringing to us.”

The six members of the Splitforce team, including its co-founders Zac Aghion and David Ruiz, will be relocating to Localytics’ Boston office, where the staff now hovers around 200 employees. Aggarwal said the pace of the company’s expansion is a reflection of the market.

“The app space is accelerating so fast,” he said. “The winners in this space are the ones who can create the most personalized app experience, and the predictive piece is critical to that.”

From: betaboston.com