Tylr Mobile nabs $500K from Citrix Accelerator, Alchemist and more (exclusive)

For scrappy enterprise-focused startups that are taking on legacy vendors, getting the mobile experience right is key.

Tylr Mobile is a startup in stealth mode that’s building a better way for business users to work on a smartphone or tablet device. Two accelerators have selected it, and it has received investments from individuals at companies such as SAP, Salesforce.com, and Oracle.

In just over a month since the founders began working on the product full time, Tylr has pulled in $500,000 in seed funding. It is set to launch its first product in the first quarter of 2013.

The Silicon Valley-based startup has also been selected to participate in Alchemist Accelerator and Citrix Startup Accelerator. Both accelerators provide a funding and mentorship to early-stage business-to-business (B2B) startups. Alchemist is a recently-launched accelerator that is underwritten by Cisco, Khosla Ventures, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Citrix provided half of the overall funding.

Founder Ryan Nichols (pictured far left with the founding team), a serial entrepreneur with four years at SAP under his belt, told me the problem they are trying to solve is that “the way we work on the go is broken.”

To explain how the product works — without giving too much away — he uses the example of switching your phone on after a business trip. Imagine that you work in sales at a Fortune 500 company. Your inbox is likely full of calendar invites, junk mail, and air-conditioning reminders, which is jumbled together with critical email from business prospects. You may not see that one of your prospects has five open support tickets — even if you catch it, there isn’t much you can do until you arrive at your hotel and check-in.

Tylr Mobile scans your inbox to filter business data and makes you more effective on the go. “Think Google’s priority inbox, but hooked up to your enterprise systems,” said Nichols. It’s primarily focused on improving the mobile experience for salespeople within a large corporation.

“Tylr Mobile represents a new breed of enterprise startup that’s mobile-first, connected to the cloud, and laser focused on the end user experience,” said John McIntyre, the managing director of the Citrix Startup Accelerator.