AppLovin could soon be selling itself for $1.5 billion

Last year, AppLovin, a mobile ad network founded in 2012, hit over $200 million in revenue, doubling what it did in 2014, it told us.

And now, its success has reportedly attracted the attention of an unknown Chinese buyer who may be willing to pay $1.5 billion to buy the startup, sources have told TechCrunch.

AppLovin's claim to fame is that it delivers more personalized ads, it says. It's been particularly successful with mobile ads.

The San Francisco based startup stayed in "stealth mode" for its first two years, meaning it didn't do a lot of sales, marketing and public relations and instead focused on developing its products.

But during that time, it still signed up 300 customers, all through word of mouth, CEO Adam Foroughi told Business Insider. Two months after its official launch, in July 2014, it had a $100 million revenue "run rate" and high-profile users like Uber, Spotify, and Opentable, Foroughi said. Run rate refers to how much money a company would bring in if it maintained the same revenue for a year.

While the IPO market has been soft in 2016, the M&A market has been on fire. If this $1.5 billion deal comes to pass, it will be a healthy exit for AppLovin and its over 100 employees.

In addition to AppLovin, Foroughi is an avid angel investor having backed startups like Bright.com (sold to LinkedIn), and Open Install (sold in December 2011). He's also backed Path, HomeJoy, ZenPayroll and others.

While AppLovin wouldn't confirm or deny this deal, Foroughi sent us this statement:

"AppLovin is a global business, and as we continue to grow, our business development includes regular dialogue with partners around the world to explore various forms of potential collaboration. Our goal remains to focus on our business and keep our customers our No. 1 priority. At this stage, we do not have any formal announcement to make."