Mobile application store GetJar has capped a year of massive growth in 2008 with the expansion of its executive team and the announcement of a new corporate and sales office in Silicon Valley, USA. GetJar says these developments are designed to continue its rapid development, which saw over 170 million mobile apps downloaded by users worldwide last year.
In addition to opening its new Silicon Valley office, which will provide a base for its operations in the US, GetJar has appointed Patrick Mork as Vice President of Marketing and Chris Dury as Vice President of Product. Prior to joining GetJar, Mork was Marketing Director for EMEA at Glu Mobile, where he was responsible for building the marketing team, product roadmap and marcoms strategy. He was a key member of the European management team that helped take the company public in March 2007.  He has also held senior marketing positions with I-play, Codemasters Software and Pepsi Co. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a BSFS from Georgetown University.
Dury has 15 years product management and marketing experience in software and services. Prior to GetJar, he led product management and marketing with scanR, a mobile productivity application distributed through carriers, device OEMs and direct-to-consumer. He also co-founded and led marketing for an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator), leveraging dual-mode cellular and wi-fi phones. He has an MBA from New York University and a BA from Michigan State University.
Currently providing over 20 million downloads per month, GetJar has seen download rates grow by over 150% during 2008.  In addition, the company also achieved a significant expansion of its distribution network globally, establishing mobile app channels on Blackberry, 3UK, Vodafone, Smart (Philippines), Maxis and Celcom (Malaysia), among others. Each offer leading applications such as Google Maps for Mobile, Yahoo!Go, Nimbuzz, eBuddy, MIG33, Trutap, and MyWaves.
The arrival of Chris and Patrick at GetJar is a key development for the business in 2009 and the years ahead, says GetJar Founder and CEO, Ilja Laurs. With a series of major technology and service developments coming to market this year, their skills and experience will enable us to deliver an exciting range of new features and benefits to consumers, developers and operators alike.”