Portland-based Urban Airship got a boost this week with a $1.1M series A round led by True Ventures. The company offers app developers copy & paste code for real-time push messages during in-app experiences and In App Purchase services for iPhone apps.

The In App Purchase tech lets users buy anything from upgrades to new content from the app, even if the app was free. While the concept is simple, there’s potential for big bucks to be made. The introduction of Apple’s iPad to the game makes purchase power while in the middle of using an app a bigger market, that is, if the iPad takes off when it’s available for sale.

For mobile marketers especially, having in-app purchasing power offers plenty of opportunities. Think of offering a free viral app which targets a certain audience and then offer those users an easy way to make a purchase during their otherwise free experience. Marketers for mobile app specifically could use this tactic to offer free apps with seamless paid upgrades.

Urban Airship will be using the cash infusion to grow their engineering team, hoping to grow the company from four people to a dozen by year end. They offer messaging plans with 250,000 messages for free per month and $.0005 per message after that threshold, or In App Purchase programs that cost as low as $.05 per download.