AltStore, the EU's pioneering alternative app marketplace, just doubled down on its challenge to Apple's monopoly with a $6 million Series A from Pace Capital and a bold move into the fediverse. The startup is launching its own Mastodon server to connect app updates across the decentralized social web, while expanding to Australia, Brazil, and Japan this year.
AltStore is making its biggest bet yet on the future of app distribution beyond Apple's walled garden. The alternative app store that helped crack open the EU market just secured $6 million in Series A funding from Pace Capital, giving the venture firm a 15% stake and bringing Flipboard CEO Mike McCue onto the board.
But the real story isn't just the funding - it's what AltStore is building with it. The company is launching its own Mastodon server, creating the first bridge between app discovery and the decentralized social web known as the fediverse. When developers opt in, their app updates will automatically flow to users following them on Mastodon, Meta's Threads, or eventually Bluesky.
"That means, if you have a Mastodon account or a Threads account, you could follow these accounts," co-founder Riley Testut told TechCrunch. "Then, in your timeline, you'd see when there was an app update." Users can reply to apps directly from their social accounts, like or share updates, and discover new apps through their existing social feeds.
The timing couldn't be better for AltStore's expansion. Since the EU's Digital Markets Act forced Apple to allow alternative app stores, AltStore has quietly built serious momentum. The platform now hosts over 100 developers - more than Epic Games offers on its alternative games store, according to Testut. "We have hundreds of thousands of users," he says. "Wonderful and good numbers."
Those numbers got a boost from some unexpected sources. AltStore's partnership with Epic to bring Fortnite to EU iPhones grabbed headlines, but their biggest traffic driver is actually Hot Tub - the first iOS pornography app that became their most popular download. The adult content market represents exactly the kind of developer that Apple's strict policies have shut out, and AltStore has embraced serving underserved niches.
The startup's influence extends beyond just hosting apps. When AltStore added the virtual machine app UTM in June 2024, it pressured Apple to reverse course and allow virtual machines in the official App Store. That's the kind of market-moving power that comes from offering developers what they can't get elsewhere - whether it's adult content, emulators like the popular Delta game emulator, or simply more flexible business models.
