US firm Neumob, which claims to boost app performance and helps them run up to 10 times faster, has announced it has expanded its global network with a launch in Africa, establishing new points of presence in Nairobi, Lagos and Johannesburg.

Neumob - which has a presence in more than 55 metropolitan areas across Europe, North America, the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia - says its app acceleration capabilities are important for developers looking to tap into lucrative, mobile-first regions like Africa.

The company said with Africa's mobile use is booming, the smartphone and mobile app economy was exploding, making it vital for app developers to be able to ensure their users have a quick, smooth app experience and do not abandon the app or turn to a competitor after experiencing slow load times or latency.

"With powerhouses like Facebook, Uber and Netflix recently expanding into Africa, Neumob's launch in the region could not be better timed," said Chief Executive Officer Jeff Kim.

"Developers are scrambling to acquire their share of this huge potential user base, and by combining a hyper-local presence with a larger global network, Neumob makes it easy for developers to provide a better, faster app experience to boost app retention rates."

According to the company, its network speeds up app load times, allowing mobile companies to drive maximum revenues. Its flagship product the Neumob Accelerator is said to boost mobile app performance by 2-10 times, whether the app's users are hyper-local in one city or located around the world.

While some app developers have tried using their website CDN to accelerate their mobile apps, such legacy technology - built on desktop web TCP/IP protocols - cannot accelerate app performance in the "mobile mile", the final mile between the CDN's outer edge and the user's device where most latency and lag in mobile apps occurs.

Neumob is backed by investors including Rich Wong at Accel - who invested in AdMob and Swiftkey - and Nihal Mehta, founding partner at ENIAC Ventures, whose portfolio includes the likes of Airbnb and Uber.

Other investors include Enspire Capital, Lightbank, Menlo Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, PradoSV, Shasta Ventures, SVFrontier and Triple Point Capital.