MOBILE app builder MobiCart has secured £300,000 of funding to help strengthen its management team with industry heavyweights after winning its 11,000th customer.

The Newcastle firm has secured backing from the Finance for Business North East Proof of Concept Fund, managed by Northstar Ventures, alongside investment from the Yorkshire Association of Business Angels.

Since launching at the world- renowned DEMO conference in Silicon Valley in September 2010, MobiCart has grown to become one of the world’s largest developers of applications that allow companies to sell goods and services to smartphone and tablet users.

Founder Wladimir Baranoff-Rossine said: “The seemingly insatiable demand for mobile-commerce solutions mirrors the phenomenal growth of e-commerce a decade ago.

“We enable savvy shoppers to buy where and when it suits them, rather than struggling to use websites not designed to be accessed by smartphones. This new round of finance comes just as we have signed our 11,000th customer, and coincides with a major strengthening of our management team.”

Mobicart has rolled out apps specifically designed for mobile devices over the last year, but can now also be accessed from a mobile browser without the need to download the app itself. The m-commerce firm offers retailers the chance to provide a mobile store to customers, and clients using the platform range, from small businesses to larger users such as Flybe and Lovehoney.

Joining its board is SECPay founder Mark Feingold, who brings significant expertise in the online payment sector. In 1998, Feingold jointly launched SECPay, which processes real-time card payments for goods and services bought over the internet. In 2007, SECPay was bought by PayPoint for a reported £12.5m.

Feingold will join serial technology entrepreneur and investor Stephen Lusty as well as Freeserve and Orange technology innovator Ian Pringle recruited as chief technology officer.