With smartphone and other mobile device usage steadily on the rise, startups with a focus in mobile are keeping up pace. New mobile startups are popping up frequently, but if history rings true, many won’t have the staying power to be here for long. Compiled here are five of the most promising mobile startups to watch in 2013.

1. StartApp

StartApp may be revolutionizing the way Android mobile app developers monetize their apps. The problem is that mobile users just aren’t that willing to pay to download an app, so the developers need more creative ways to earn revenue.

StartApp could be the answer. When an Android user downloads an app with StartApp technology, the app downloads a search icon onto that user’s home screen. When the users use that icon to generate a search, the app developer and StartApp share the profits.

2. ZocDoc

M-health (mobile health) is one of the fastest growing areas on mobile right now and ZocDoc is moving to be a big contender. Most of the mobile apps in healthcare right now are geared toward the care-giver instead of the patient. ZocDoc solves the problem of finding a healthcare provider that accepts your insurance, even while traveling – usually a nightmare of a task. The service isn’t exclusively mobile, but will likely be used most often by users who are on the go.

ZocDoc allows users to search for healthcare providers by insurance, specialty, gender, and languages spoken. Users can browse reviews of doctors, see professional doctor qualifications and scope out photos of the docs and their facilities.

ZocDoc solves another common patient problem – appointment availability. With a typical call to a practice, patients will often be told there is a long wait – sometimes weeks or months. ZocDoc shows the “hidden supply” of appointments, including those cancelled at the last minute, and boasts that the majority of ZocDoc users get in to see the doctor within 24 to 72 hours.

3. Pocket

Pocket, formerly Read It Later, is a mobile app developed to save longer form content and videos to view at a later time. Users can pull content directly from a webpage or compile material from apps like Twitter, Flipboard, and Pulse. Everything is compiled in one mobile app that allows users access to the saved content even without internet access.

Pocket has already gained traction and established itself in reader’s habits. Now it just needs to move forward with a revenue model. Currently, users are able to Pocket paywalled or premium content from other sites. It’s likely that Pocket will follow in the footsteps of other sites who are charging for longform content, but all within one ecosystem.

4. TagWhat

TagWhat utilizes a mobile devices built in location sensors to deliver Web and social networking content about places nearby. While there are a multitude of other mobile apps attempting to use the location sensors to push coupons and ads at users, TagWhat has tapped into an important fact: mobile users want real content, not marketing dribble. By connecting social networks to the location sensors, TagWhat achieves this quite nicely.

Smartphone and tablet users can use TagWhat to geo-locate local Web content and share it with other nearby almost instantly. TagWhat’s unique algorithm identifies related content by using Facebook pages, Foursquare venues, Twitter streams, and commercial content. The ultra-connected, localized web delivers a high volume of localized content for users.

Rather than push unwanted ads at consumers, TagWhat brings in revenue from sponsored channels and third-party affiliate revenue that users only receive if they opt into the channel.

5. aSpark

Startup aSpark seeks to help enterprise more quickly adopt consumer-led technology like cloud, social media, and mobile. aSpark offers three pre-packed ages as well as a “Mobile Backend-as-a-service” platform that streamlines the development of mobile apps.

The mobile app development platform allows enterprises to embark quickly on the usually time consuming endeavor of creating mobile apps. The platform has a user-engagement module that allows enterprises to target users with tailor-made messages and content. Also available in the platform is a mobile context service that leverages location-based information from the user’s mobile device.