hapily is a SaaS company that has experienced remarkable growth within the HubSpot ecosystem. Founded in late 2019 by Dax Miller and Tyron Foston, hapily emerged as an “app studio” for HubSpot, aiming to bridge feature gaps in the HubSpot platform and cater to the evolving needs of HubSpot users.
The hapily journey began when Dax and Tyron provided developer services to one of their clients who were migrating to HubSpot from another CRM. During the migration process, they realized this client required additional functionalities like a user portal for ticket creation and viewing, as well as Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Since these features were absent in HubSpot, the duo took the initiative to build them for the client.
The successful implementation of these features sparked interest from the wider HubSpot community and app ecosystem. Recognizing the demand for addressing these type of feature gaps, Dax and Tyron founded appchemist in order to focus on building a range of apps to cater to HubSpot customers’ needs. Some of their early apps included Customer Service Portal, Timerman (advanced SLA and Deal Velocity), Clone Attack (object duplication), RealCity (real estate industry support), and SuperGroups (object grouping).
Collaboration with HubSpot Teams
appchemist quickly gained recognition and appreciation from sales reps and solutions engineers at HubSpot. Former HubSpot Solutions Engineer (now Chief Evangelist at hapily), Max Cohen, recalls:
"I've been following Dax and Tyron since the Appchemist days. In a world of apps that just synced object data between 3rd party SaaS products and HubSpot, they were building apps that added NET NEW functionality to the platform. Never had I seen apps that only ran on HubSpot and did not exist as standalone products outside of our ecosystem. I remember the moment it clicked for me when I realized what they were building, and I was a fan ever since."
Max Cohen, Chief Evangelist, hapily
Their ability to solve prospect challenges and guide the sales process impressed HubSpot teams. Besides providing specific applications, appchemist offered solutions to complex requirements based on their extensive experience.
Caitlin Siegrist, Senior Manager on HubSpot’s Product Partnerships Team, saw the value appchemist brought to the app partner ecosystem. She shares,
"appchemist was a missing piece in the partner ecosystem with their ability to provide easy-to-install applications and recommend solutions for current and prospective customers. There is a big opportunity for developers to build apps to solve vertical-specific challenges and even extend the utility of the platform.”
Caitlin Siegrist, Senior Manager, HubSpot
Dax Miller, Head of Product at hapily, participated in a webinar with HubSpot discussing building apps specifically for HubSpot’s App Marketplace. His contributions highlighted the business opportunity in building for HubSpot, the role of HubSpot Solutions Partners in building apps, advice for those looking to build for HubSpot, and lessons learned along the way.
App Accelerator and Acquisition
In 2020, appchemist participated in HubSpot's first App Accelerator program, aimed at promoting the app ecosystem and supporting new partners and solo developers. The program provided appchemist with guidance, exposure to other teams, and opportunities for launching new apps.
One such team they connected with was Aptitude 8, an Elite HubSpot Solutions Partner. Aptitude 8 introduced Associ8, an app enabling dynamic object associations, which received high praise but faced technical limitations for scaling.
Connor Jeffers, CEO of Aptitude 8, collaborated with appchemist to enhance and refine Associ8. Recognizing their compatibility and shared vision, the teams decided to merge, forming a new entity called A8 Labs. This union combined Aptitude 8's service expertise with appchemist's product knowledge and technical capabilities.
Associ8 is one of hapily’s most installed built for HubSpot apps. This powerful admin tool allows you to automate the association between records in your system using fixed values or dynamic tokens. Overall, this app allows users to leverage workflows to associate records without a single line of code.
Another popular app that A8 Labs built is Clone Attack. Clone Attack allows users to copy deals, contacts, or tickets along with its properties and associations in just a few simple clicks. It’s described as a “must have add-on for HubSpot.”
After merging with Aptitude 8, the result was growth in app installs, collaboration with internal HubSpot teams, and even gaining influence reaching up to HubSpot Ventures, HubSpot's investment arm.
Investment and Beyond
In 2022, A8 Labs launched Zaybra, a flagship app that seamlessly integrates Stripe and HubSpot, addressing a previously unexplored but crucial need for HubSpot customers. This caught the attention of HubSpot Ventures, leading to their investment in A8 Labs through the CRM Platform Fund to fuel further growth.
To differentiate the software company A8 Labs from the HubSpot solutions partner company Aptitude 8, a new brand was introduced: hapily. The name paid homage to the recently deprecated HubSpot "hapi" key.
Brandon Greer, Director of Corporate Development, praises hapily’s dedication to developing products exclusively for extending the power of the HubSpot CRM platform. He states,
"With years of experience helping HubSpot customers solve complex needs, the hapily team is uniquely positioned to build the niche solutions our shared customers need to scale their businesses and cultivate deeper connections with their communities.”
Brandon Greer, Director of Corporate Development, HubSpot
Today, hapily has over 2,500 installs across all of their apps, a rapidly growing solutions partner program. They experience 15% revenue growth month over month and over 350 HubSpot customers have more than one hapily app installed.
The journey of hapily from a small two-person development shop to a fully funded SaaS company in under 3 years, highlights the immense opportunities available for developers within the HubSpot ecosystem.
As HubSpot continues to gain popularity due to its power and ease of use, the demand for feature-rich apps catering to niche use cases and verticals is rapidly growing. hapily’s success story serves as an inspiration for developers interested in leveraging the HubSpot platform to create innovative solutions.
Read more partner stories to discover other ways that partners have found success in the HubSpot ecosystem. Check out how Bayard Bradford and OrgChartHub grew with HubSpot.
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