People across the U.S. spent a whopping 621 billion minutes using mobile apps during the month of June, up 52 percent during the same period last year, according to a BI Intelligence report released Sept. 5.

In case you were wondering, that’s equal to about 14,945 human lifetimes (calculated using the average life expectancy, about 79 years, of a person living in the U.S.)

That’s also equal to about 34 hours on average per month for every U.S. resident, or more than one hour daily, according to Business Insider.

If that’s not reason enough for a company to launch its first mobile app, I’m not sure what is. The gigantic figure is further proof that mobile technology is on an upswing. Mobile ad spending, for example, is expected to hit $41.9 billion by 2017, according to recent analyst reports. Facebook’s recent earnings report showed that mobile advertising represented about 60 percent, or about $1.8 billion, of the social networking site’s quarterly revenue.

This surge in mobile app usage means good business for Boston-area companies whose mission it is to make mobile apps and get mobile advertisements in front of your eyes.

Here are a few of those firms, which have made headlines recently because of their growth:

• Apperian, a Boston-based mobile app firm, is gaining more traction with enterprise clients, which has helped the startup’s average deal size more than triple during the past year to $235,000. Recent story: Mobile app firm Apperian sees increased demand from enterprises, promotes CFO
• Mobiquity Inc., a Wellesley-based mobile technology services firm, announced last month it has closed an additional $5 million in funding, bringing total funding to date for the three-year-old company to $24 million.
• Drizly is the Boston-based maker of an alcohol delivery mobile app, backed by $4.8 million in investor funding to date and on the path toward significant expansion. Recent story: Drizly plans major expansion as demand grows for its alcohol delivery app (Video)
• Moontoast, a Boston-based advertising technology firm, helps clients make social rich media advertising campaigns including endorsement campaigns and awareness campaigns for social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Vine and LinkedIn. Recent story: Adtech firm Moontoast acquires Nashville-based marketing tech startup Spendship
• Boston-based mobile app marketing software firm Fiksu’s annual revenues are exceeding $100 million, driven by the worldwide surge in mobile technology.

From: http://www.bizjournals.com/