Affle India to buy 8% stake in smartphone operating system, Indus OS for ₹21 crore

Consumer intelligence platform Affle India is acquiring 8 per cent stake in smartphone operating system firm Indus OS for about ₹21 crore.

"Affle India Ltd through its subsidiaries announces the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire 8 per cent ownership in OSLabs Pte Ltd Singapore (Indus OS). Indus OS operates India's largest independent indigenous app store with key investment from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation," Affle said in a statement.

"It strengthens Affle's position as the enabling platform for the indigenous apps ecosystem in India, ensuring digitally inclusive growth for our customers," said Affle Chairman, MD and CEO Anuj Khanna Sohum.

Indus OS has Indus App Bazaar which comprises over four lakh apps accessible in English and 12 Indian languages -- Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Odia, Punjabi, Malayalam, Bengali, Assamese and Kannada.

"We derive significant synergies with the Indus App Bazaar which, through its multi-lingual capabilities, deeply enhances our vernacular scale and the verticalisation strategy," said Sohum.

Indus OS platform with its indigenous app store capabilities, thousands of apps and powered by a robust app recommendation engine is deployed by Samsung and many Indian original equipment makers.

"This deal would strategically strengthen our market position and create a leading one-of-its-kind engagement model for the Indian users," Indus OS Co-founder, Director and CEO Rakesh Deshmukh said.