The launch of a web service or app into general availability doesn’t conclude the product development lifecycle. After the initial release, companies normally keep rolling out enhancements to address user feedback and stay ahead of rivals, a task that Optimizely Inc. is working to simplify.

The San Francisco-based startup today announced that it has raised a $50 million funding round from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and  Accenture plc. Optimizely also picked up $55 million in new debt financing, courtesy of Bridge Bank, to support additional growth initiatives.

Optimizely’s namesake cloud services help companies find ways of improving their digital products. The platform enables development teams to test proposed enhancements with a limited number of users, collect data on how well they respond and determine if the change is worth rolling out across the board.

A fashion retailer, for example, could experiment with different versions of its online catalog to see which one has the most positive effect on sales. Mobile developers, in turn, can use Optimizely to pilot updates with test groups before releasing them to all their users. The platform also lends itself to performing tests on the server-side components that support a service, such as a product recommendation algorithm or a payment processing engine.

Optimizely separates the task of creating tests from the process of executing them. Engineers can write the code for an experiment using the platform’s open-source software development kits and leave the rest to the product management department. Optimizely provides a visual interface that allows users to determine the scale of tests, as well as quickly roll back changes if they miss the mark.

Another core element of the startup’s value proposition is its homegrown analytics technology. The platform uses a statistical framework that Optimizely has built in collaboration with Stanford University researchers to filter data errors, which helps companies receive a more accurate picture of how well users respond to features during tests.

The company counts more than a quarter of the Fortune 100 as customers. The startup has a particularly big presence in the tech industry, where its platform is used by major players such as HP Inc., IBM Corp., Sony Corp. and Atlassian Corp. plc.

Chief Executive Jay Larson told SiliconANGLE that the new funding will enable the startup to accelerate its expansion plans. “We can invest more in products to put an even bigger gap between Optimizely and our competition,” he said. “We can expand geographically. And we will continue to grow our team of world-class digital optimization experts.”

Optimizely has raised close to $200 million in venture capital to date.

Photo: Optimizely