AppDirect Founders Daniel Saks and Nicolas Desmarais Named to Forbes 30 Under 30

Annual List Celebrates Game Changers, Disruptors and Innovators Changing the World and the Face of Business

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–January 8, 2015–

AppDirect, the cloud service commerce company, announced today that the company’s founders and co-CEOs, Daniel Saks and Nicolas Desmarais, have been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. This year’s list recognizes 600 disruptors, innovators and entrepreneurs across 20 categories, age 30 or younger, who are transforming the world and changing the business landscape. The AppDirect executives were selected from more than 10,000 nominations.

Saks and Desmarais started AppDirect in 2009 out of a San Francisco apartment at the age of 23. Five years later, AppDirect has over 200 team members, has signed strategic deals with the biggest companies in the world and has raised over $60 million in venture capital. Today, AppDirect reaches millions of business users around the world, helping them find, buy, use, manage and monitor cloud services.

Recognized in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 enterprise technology category, both founders share the vision of giving small businesses easy access to enterprise-class software. Rather than just being an online direct destination for businesses, their vision was a global network that would enable businesses to buy cloud applications from local trusted providers. AppDirect is changing the landscape for how businesses work and operate across the globe by lowering barriers for distributors, developers and consumers of cloud services, disrupting traditional delivery systems and creating a world where companies have easy access to software.

“Forbes’ creation of a separate 30 Under 30 category this year for enterprise technology supports both the shift we’ve seen as technology moves to the cloud as well as reflects the increasing number of young entrepreneurs stepping up to drive this change,” said Agatha Poon, Research Manager, Global Cloud Computing, 451 Research. “Daniel Saks and Nicolas Desmarais, cofounders of AppDirect, are examples of a new generation of tech leaders driving an industry-wide IT transformation using emerging technologies like cloud computing. Building a cloud marketplace platform that enables all aspects of cloud service commerce while mobilizing an ecosystem of software distributors and developers, the two founders are changing the way businesses procure services and applications.”

Click to Tweet: .@AppDirect founders Daniel Saks and Nicolas Desmarais named to @Forbes #30Under30, making cloud software accessible. http://bit.ly/1wVCMrE

“Nicolas and I are proud to be recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 and honored to join the ranks alongside Mark Zuckerberg, Aaron Levie, Sidney Crosby and many other global innovators, achievers and leaders,” said Daniel Saks, co-Founder and co-CEO of AppDirect. “We’re thankful for everyone who has supported us throughout our inception and growth, including our family, friends, investors, clients and the entire AppDirect team.”

This recognition follows a list of accolades the company has secured in the past six months:

• San Francisco Business Times Fast 100 – Fastest-growing, privately-held SaaS company
• Red Herring 100 Global Company – Most innovative private technology company in North America, Europe and Asia
• Cloud Asia Award for Best Cloud Platform – Innovator in global cloud computing
• Appsters Award for Best Use of Cloud – Excellence and innovation in the apps industry
• Business Intelligence Group Award for Business – Company of the Year in IT and Telecom
• 2014 Empact100 Showcase – Top company led by entrepreneurs under 35
• Talkin’ Cloud 100 – World’s top cloud service providers
• MSPmentor 250 – Top managed service providers

About AppDirect

AppDirect is the cloud service commerce leader making software and products accessible globally. The AppDirect cloud service commerce platform unites distributors, developers and consumers of cloud services into a single ecosystem. This makes it easy for businesses to find, buy, manage and monitor cloud services from a central location and delivers new opportunities to distribute, sell, and market cloud services. AppDirect-powered marketplaces, billing and distribution, and reselling services help providers – including Telstra, ADP, Samsung, Deutsche Telekom and others – connect millions of businesses to solutions from Microsoft, Google, Box and more. AppDirect is headquartered in San Francisco with global offices. Learn more at www.AppDirect.com.

Media Contact
AppDirect
Zoe Kine, 415-994-6080
zoe.kine@appdirect.com