【homo eroticism in comics】

Major app stores are homo eroticism in comicsoften littered with forgotten or neglected husks of software — apps that developers have, for whatever reason, long given up on updating or actively managing.

While some simply gather cobwebs, others maintain loyal followings of a respectable size despite their dilapidated code. In those latter cases, inattentive proprietors are often letting a steady stream of potential advertising dollars fall by the wayside.

That's the opportunity two ad tech veterans are looking to seize with Maple Media, a startup that buys or manages apps with owners who are either unequipped for or uninterested in the day-to-day busy work of running and maintaining them.

"There's a lot of really good studios out there that know how to make games and make apps," co-founder Michael Ritter said, "but operating them is a completely different skill set — it takes different experience, know-how and relationships."

The Los Angeles-based company officially launched Wednesday with a haul of $30 million in private equity funding from Shamrock Capital to fuel its take-off. It claims to already boast a portfolio of 150 apps under its umbrella — either through acquisitions or partnership agreements.

Among them are Android apps "File Manager," "PDF Viewer and Book Reader" and "Kosmo Endless Space Adventure," as well as the iTunes version of the last one.

The company doesn't discriminate by category; Ritter says its roster is equitably split between games, productivity tools and simple utilities.

They're also all over the map in terms of value; acquisition prices the company has paid thus far vary wildly from the tens of thousands to the tens of millions.

The apps they buy don't necessarily have to be gathering dust either. Sometimes, sparsely staffed game-making companies don't have the resources to maintain anything less than a smash-hit app. Other times, developers would rather just move onto the next project than get bogged down in operations.

What the company is searching for when scouting scoop-able apps, Ritter says, is a sizable daily active user base — 20,000 at minimum, but preferably in the mid-six-figures — a quality star rating and an upkeep-intensive format that might pose a burden for an enterprising developer.

"One thing that I look for — if it's a game in particular — is, 'Is my wife yelling at me at one o'clock in the morning to stop playing the game?'" co-founder Clark Landry added.

Once an app is under the company's wing, the co-founders apply their mobile advertising know-how to squeeze as much profit as possible out of their new property. That doesn't mean pelting the app's hapless fans with a torrent of new ads, but rather finding the right mix of advertising, in-app purchases and other money-making means to keep everyone happy.

"The vast majority of [our new funds] will be put towards acquisitions," Ritter said.