InMobi’s Glance raises $145 million from Google, Mithril Capital

Glance on Tuesday announced that it had raised $145 million in investment led by Google and existing investor Mithril Capital. Glance is a subsidiary of InMobi Group and owns the popular video-sharing social networking platform Roposo.

According to a Mint report, the funding values Glance at a little over $1 billion, making it the latest unicorn.

Bengaluru-headquartered Glance provides AI-driven personalised content in multiple languages such as English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Bahasa on the lock screen of Android smartphones. The company claims to have more than 115 million daily active users and 25 minutes of average time spend. Its services are available only in the Android ecosystem. It has also teamed up with top device makers including Samsung Electronics Co., Xiaomi Corp., Oppo and Vivo.

Roposo, on the other hand, is said to have more than 33 million monthly active users with 20 minutes average daily time spent. It offers content in multiple languages. The Android app has already gone past 100 million downloads on the Google Play Store.

Glance said it would use the new investment to improve its AI capability across Glance and Roposo, expand its technology team, launch services on the platform, further strengthen the brand and drive expansion in global markets. The company is already present in markets such as Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines. The company will reportedly enter Brazil next year. It is said to be in talks with telecom partners in the US.

“Glance is a great example of innovation solving for mobile-first and mobile-only consumption, serving content across many of India’s local languages,” said Caesar Sengupta, VP, Google.

“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 like this when the internet is the lifeline of so many people. This investment underlines our strong belief in working with India’s innovative startups towards the shared goal of building a truly inclusive digital economy that will benefit everyone,” he added.