Lock screen platform Glance has announced that it has raised a $145 million investment round from Google and existing investor Mithril Capital.
A subsidiary of InMobi Group and owner of the video-sharing social media platform Roposo, Glance delivers AI-driven personalised content in multiple languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Bahasa on the lock screen of Android smartphones. With more than 115 million daily active users, Glance is one of the largest digital consumer platforms in the world, the statement claimed.
Glance will use the new investment to deepen its AI capability, expand its technology team, launch more services, strengthen the brand and drive expansion in global markets, the statement notified.
“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.
He added, “Still too many Indians have trouble finding content to read or services they can use confidently, in their own language. This 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.”
Glance delivers trending content across entertainment, sports, fashion, news and other content categories in a rich, visual format that is easy to consume with just a tap on the lock screen. It leverages its strategic partnership with the world's leading Android smartphone brands to deliver this native user experience to consumers.
“Glance is a powerful innovation to democratise content on the mobile Internet,” said Ajay Royan, Managing General Partner and Co-founder, Mithril Capital. He also said, “It has been fantastic working with the Glance leadership team in realising Glance's global vision of breaking through technical and linguistic barriers to deliver frictionless and engaging experiences across cultures and languages.”
Expressing his thoughts, Naveen Tewari, Founder and CEO, Glance and InMobi Group, said, “Glance is reimagining the future of digital consumption on smartphones. We are 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.
