Building a global software company does not always begin in a major technology hub or depend on venture capital. For Shashank Agrawal, founder of StarApps, the journey started in a small town in Bihar, India, where he developed the company’s first product in 2016 using mobile internet and collaborating with a freelance developer he had never met in person.
Nearly a decade later, StarApps serves more than 30,000 Shopify merchants worldwide, including over 2,500 Shopify Plus customers. The company has a team of approximately 30 people and generates around $7 million in annual revenue, having financed its growth without outside investment.
Its trajectory reflects a business model built around a specific e-commerce need, recurring software revenue, and an international customer base. In 2026, StarApps completed its first acquisition, purchasing AppMaker, a platform that enables Shopify brands to develop native mobile shopping applications.
From a Shopify store problem to a global software business
StarApps began with a challenge Agrawal encountered while preparing to sell products to customers in the United States through his own Shopify store. He struggled to find a tool that would display the appropriate product image when shoppers selected a particular variant, such as a different color.
That experience became the starting point for StarApps’ first application, which launched in July 2017. The company recorded its first paying customer in October of that year, generating $87.85. Agrawal considers that transaction the company’s actual founding milestone.
The initial product addressed a practical issue for online retailers: helping customers see the exact product they intend to purchase. StarApps subsequently expanded into merchandising and product-discovery tools for Shopify merchants.
The company’s international orientation was also influenced by Agrawal’s previous experience co-founding Freshmonk, a print-on-demand e-commerce business. Although the company scaled, the limitations of its domestic addressable market helped shape his decision to build StarApps around a software-as-a-service model with customers across multiple markets.
StarApps has relied on revenue generated by its products to finance its expansion rather than raising venture capital. Its growth provides an example of how a specialized software company can build an international customer base without following the funding model commonly associated with technology startups.
The strategy also extends to acquisitions. StarApps funded its purchase of AppMaker entirely in cash, without raising outside capital for the transaction.
AppMaker provides native mobile applications for Shopify brands. According to the information provided about the acquisition, its platform serves more than 200 brands that collectively process over $100 million in annual gross merchandise value (GMV) through their apps.
The acquisition expands StarApps’ reach beyond the online storefront. Its merchandising products help merchants improve product discovery, while AppMaker gives brands another channel to engage shoppers through mobile applications.
The expansion comes as online retailers look for ways to improve conversion and retain customers amid rising paid acquisition costs. Merchandising tools and mobile shopping applications can help brands improve the shopping experience and build direct relationships with existing customers.
For StarApps, AppMaker adds a complementary product to its existing portfolio while extending its relationships with Shopify merchants. The acquisition also marks a change in the company’s growth strategy after years of expanding primarily through its own products.
From its beginnings in Bihar to a global customer base, StarApps has built its business around a focused product strategy and revenue-funded growth. Its next phase will test how effectively it can integrate acquisitions and expand its product offering while maintaining the bootstrapped model that has defined its first decade.
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