So far there are more than 100 titles offered through AppShup spanning simple games, quizzes, astrology, movie and dictionary programs. The new app store is the latest wrinkle for Mumbai-based GupShup, which has raised $37 million to date from investors including Globespan Capital Partners and Charles River Ventures.
The company, which has a partnership in India with Facebook, says it now accounts for 5% of all text messages sent in India, which has about 500 million cell users. To help stock its new app outlet, GupShup is sponsoring a contest for the most innovative SMS app with the winner awarded a $5,000 cash prize. -- Mark Walsh