InMobi's Glance enters unicorn club after Google-led funding round

InMobi Group's subsidiary Glance has raised a fresh round of funding of $145 million from Google and its existing investor Mithril Capital.  According to sources the current round of funding has been done at a valuation of over a $1 billion turning Glance into a unicorn. The company said it will use the funds to deepen its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities across Glance and short-form video platform Roposo along with expanding its technology team and also launching new services on the platform. The company will also be looking at strengthening the brand and expansion across global markets. "We are absolutely thrilled to have Google as a strategic investor in Glance and Roposo. With two of the largest digital content platforms in the country, we have taken the lead in making the digital economy accessible for the next billion users in India and globally," says Naveen Tewari, Founder and CEO of Glance and InMobi Group.

Currently, Glance has 115 million daily active users who spend 25 minutes per day on the platform. Glance offers personalised content across entertainment, sports, fashion, news, and other content categories in multiple languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Bahasa on the lock screen of Android smartphones. "Still too many Indians have trouble finding content to read or services they can use confidently in their own language. And this significantly limits the value of the internet for them, particularly at a time when the internet is the lifeline of so many people," says Caesar Sengupta, VP, Google. Now with Google as an investor, the company will look at leveraging the tech and Android prowess to deliver a better native user experience to consumers.

InMobi which competes with the likes of Google and Facebook in the adtech space has been growing 3.5 times compared to its growth in 2019, according to the company. Speaking to Business Today earlier this year, Naveen Tewari, Founder & CEO, InMobi Group had said that the retention rate for new users was nearly 85 per cent. In 2019, Glance had acquired short-video content platform Roposo. With over 100 million downloads and 33 million monthly active users, the platform saw a quick surge in numbers post TikTok ban.

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