Moving upmarket: Why we started building custom App Store apps for our B2B clients
When we first built Kamero, our focus was simple: build a great AI face-search web gallery to deliver event photos instantly.
It worked well, but as we started talking to higher-end wedding studios and enterprise event organizers, we kept hitting a wall with brand perception:
"We love the AI face matching, but we don't want our luxury clients to see a third-party link. We want our own app icon on their home screen."
At first, we tried offering standard web white-labeling (custom subdomains and logos). But for high-end photography businesses, a web app still felt like a workaround. They wanted real mobile apps published under their own developer accounts on the App Store and Google Play Store.
The Pivot to Infrastructure-as-a-Service
Instead of trying to fight this objection, we leaned into it. Over the past few weeks, we automated our build and deployment pipeline:
Turnkey App Generation: We can now spin up a fully customized iOS and Android app with their studio branding, icons, and themes.
7-Day Delivery: We handle the end-to-end publishing directly into the client's Apple/Google developer accounts within a week.
Shared AI Core: Under the hood, all apps tap into the same real-time camera-to-cloud FTP sync and facial recognition engine.
What This Changed for Our Business
Higher Contract Value: Shifting from standard monthly subscriptions to dedicated custom app packages unlocked a completely new, high-intent tier of B2B buyers willing to pay upfront for infrastructure.
Near-Zero Churn: Once an agency has their own branded app live on their clients' phones, it becomes mission-critical software.
Clear Competitive Moat: While competitors offer gallery links, offering a native app in the App Store under the client's own brand is extremely difficult for most platforms to match.
My Question for Other B2B Founders:
If you sell SaaS, have you ever built custom/dedicated solutions (like white-label native apps or dedicated instances) for higher-tier clients? How did you balance keeping your core codebase maintainable without turning into a custom software agency?
Would love to hear how others manage white-label products at scale!
— Rishabh Thakrar, Founder of Kamero
