Professional services firm, KPMG partnered with mobile enterprise app developer Chelsea Apps Factory (CAF), to launch what it dubs its Digital Innovation Network.

The partnership will be the first of a number that will form the Digital Innovation Network, combining the industry knowledge of KPMG with the creativity and design skills of early stage start-ups.

Alwin Magimay, head of digital and analytics at KPMG, said the network is aimed at building “an ecosystem of ideas and innovation in a new way that benefits our clients”.

“By working closely with early stage tech companies, such as the Chelsea Apps Factory, we can give our clients access to the hottest areas of mobile, cloud, cyber, social and analytics,” he added.

KPMG said many businesses are “waking up to the fact that apps can increase productivity and make work processes more flexible” with an increasing proportion of IT budgets now going towards mobile apps.

CAF has built more than 100 mobile apps for clients including pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline, retailer Waitrose and Ladbrokes, the bookmakers.

Mike Anderson, CAF CEO, said the partnership with KPMG is the next step in the company’s evolution.

KPMG has taken an initial 10 per cent stake in CAF, which could grow if the companies do more business together.

A number of mobile players have ramped up their efforts in the enterprise app market in recent years, including device makers and operators.

In September last year, for example, Samsung launched a service which enterprises can use to source business apps for Android devices and work with third party developers to create customised software.

Around the same time, AT&T started to provide business customers with the SAP Mobile Platform to help simplify the development of mobile apps for businesses.