SELL A MOBILE APP BUSINESS

Selling a mobile app business? We've built, bought, and sold them.

Sell-side M&A advisors who've actually shipped consumer apps — not bankers reading your P&L for the first time.

20Seven is a sell-side M&A advisory that represents founders selling mobile app businesses.

THE MOMENT

An aggregator approached you — or you're quietly thinking about selling.

Either way, the worst move is to negotiate alone against one buyer who does this for a living. We read the intent, tell you what the business is really worth, and either prepare you quietly or take it to a real process — your name kept blind until you're ready.

You just got approached

A single unsolicited offer is the weakest place to negotiate from: one buyer, no competition, no benchmark. Before you reply with a number, we tell you whether they're serious and what a competitive process would actually surface.

You're thinking of selling

You don't have to run an auction next week. We warm the right acquirers over time, then approach the best of them one at a time — so when you go, the buyer already knows the app and can't afford to lose it.

WHY 20SEVEN FOR APPS

We speak app — operators, buyers, and modellers in one room.

Operators, not bankers

We've built consumer apps ourselves. We know what a real retention curve looks like, why a spike in installs can mean nothing, and which numbers a buyer will actually trust.

We've sat on the buy side

Our team has bought apps, not just sold them. We know how an acquirer builds their model, where they hunt for discounts, and how to close the gaps before they find them.

Live buyer appetite

We also advise mobile-app acquirers, so we see what's being bought right now — the categories, the multiples, and who's actively writing cheques for consumer apps.

We model what buyers pay for

Subscription, in-app purchase, in-app advertising — we build the monetisation picture acquirers care about, so the story stands up when their analysts pull it apart.

We know the intricacies

App-store payment mechanics, store-fee drag on net revenue, deferred-revenue recognition and the cashflow timing that trips buyers up — priced in, not glossed over.

Networked into the buyers

We're connected to the strategics and aggregators who buy consumer apps — and we can approach them blind, without naming you, until you decide you're ready.

Modelling built for apps

Cohort analysis, LTV/CAC, retention forecasts — auditable models built the way apps actually behave, so due diligence confirms the story instead of unpicking it.

Advisors, not brokers

App M&A is a thin, unprofessional market. You get people who know apps but not finance, or finance people who've never shipped an app — and most are brokers who list you and wait. We're the rare advisor who understands both, and we do the work.

We protect you on terms

Professional buyers do this every day; go it alone and you do all the work while they quietly rinse you on the terms and detail you never see. We sit on your side of the table, run the detail, and hold the line where it counts.

Fees that aren't a rinse

App-M&A fees are often exorbitant for the little work a broker actually does. We charge fairly for a full advisory process — buyer discovery, modelling, and running the deal — not a listing fee dressed up as advice.

HOW IT WORKS

The same engine, tuned for apps.

We map the acquirers who can't afford to lose you — often 300+ names narrowed to a ~30-buyer shortlist — then warm them, book the meetings, and run the process when the timing is yours. The full method lives in our Strategic Sale Planning. See how Strategic Sale Planning works.

QUESTIONS WE GET

The questions we get,
answered straight.

Consumer apps live and die on retention, monetisation mix, and platform risk — not on enterprise contracts. Buyers scrutinise cohort behaviour, subscription versus ad revenue, store-fee drag, and how much of your growth depends on paid acquisition. We model exactly those levers, because we've built and bought apps ourselves.

Mostly two groups: strategics adding a category or audience, and app aggregators who buy portfolios and run them for cash. We advise acquirers on both sides, so we know who's actively buying, what they'll pay for, and how to reach the person who actually decides.

Store fees sit between your gross bookings and the revenue a buyer actually banks, so they change the number that gets multiplied. We present net revenue cleanly, show the fee drag, and make sure the buyer values the real cashflow — not a gross figure they'll discount later anyway.

Don't reply with a price and don't go it alone. One unsolicited buyer is the weakest position to negotiate from. We read whether they're serious, tell you the honest range, and decide together whether to quietly prepare or open a competitive process — your name kept blind until you choose.

Yes — subscription, in-app purchase, and in-app advertising, or any mix. Each monetises and forecasts differently, and buyers price them differently. We build the model around your actual revenue engine so the value holds up through diligence.

Most of the app-M&A world is brokers, not advisors — they list you, wait, and let you do all the work while professional buyers rinse you on terms you never see. And they're usually one thing or the other: people who understand apps but not finance, or finance people who've never shipped one. We're advisors who understand both, run the whole process, and protect you on the detail.

Fees in this market are often exorbitant for how little a broker actually does. We won't quote a number cold — it depends on the mandate — but the principle is simple: a fair fee for real advisory work, buyer discovery, modelling, and running the deal on your side, not a listing fee dressed up as advice.

Start the conversation.
Sell it right.

Five minutes while you walk to get a coffee. No pitch—just the truth about what your company is worth and who might buy it.