Jio Platforms to invest $200 million in InMobi-owned lock-screen platform, Glance

The deal is expected to lead to further strategic collaborations between Glance, Reliance Retail and Jio.

Jio Platforms invest $200 million in Glance, a lock-screen platform, to accelerate the platform’s growth internationally.

Glance will use the funds raised to double down on growth in Asia as well as launch in key global markets including the US, Brazil, Mexico and Russia. The transaction is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. This is the Series D funding round for the firm.

In addition to Jio Platforms, Glance is also backed by technology giant Google and Silicon Valley-based venture fund Mithril Capital. Google is also an investor in Dunzo.

This will also give a boost to Glance’s live commerce and short video platform Roposo. Founded in 2019, Glance’s lock screen platform is present on more than 400 million devices across markets in Asia.

This investment comes at a time when the competition in the short video space is intensifying. While Instagram Reels is a clear leader so far, the home grown players like ShareChat’s Moj, VerSe Innovation’s Josh are stepping up their play triggering consolidation in the market. Recently, ShareChat acquired short video platform MX TakaTak for $600 million to strengthen its short video play.

“Concurrent with the proposed investment, Glance has also entered into a business partnership arrangement with Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (Reliance Retail), providing for Glance’s ‘lock screen platform’ to be integrated into the JioPhone Next smartphones to transform the internet experience for millions of Jio users. This is the latest in a series of strategic partnerships between Glance and global players in the mobile ecosystem. The deal is also expected to lead to further strategic collaborations between Glance, Reliance Retail and Jio across devices, commerce, content and gaming ecosystem,” Reliance said in a statement.

Neil Shah, Vice President - Research, Counterpoint, said, "Considering Jio Platforms is looking to become the leading technology platform to capture maximum share of the user’s digital lives in form of communication, content and commerce, this is a great move to invest in a fast growing company which has found a strong place in the burgeoning smartphone ecosystem present right front and center in more than 150 million smartphones in India."

Prabhu Ram, Head - Industry Intelligence Group, CyberMedia Research, said, "With its lock-screen content discovery platform, Glance has scaled significantly across smartphone screens in India. As new smartphone users connect to India’s growing digital economy, on smartphones such as JioPhone Next, such content discovery platforms would enable them to experience voice, vernacular and video (3Vs) seamlessly on their lock screens."

Akash Ambani, Director, Jio Platforms Limited, said in the statement, “Glance has grown at a phenomenal pace over the past two years and has given users a truly unique solution by unlocking the power of the lock screen for experiencing the internet, live content, creator driven entertainment commerce and gaming. With the help of this investment, Glance expects to launch in several key markets globally as well as extend the experience to millions of Jio users, further reinforcing our commitment to provide the most advanced and next-level tech and digital ecosystem for consumers in India and beyond.”

Naveen Tewari, Founder & CEO of InMobi Group, said in a statement that Jio’s investment into Glance brings a deep synergy of vision and philosophy and Glance’s presence on the lock screen of JioPhone Next smartphones will lead to a paradigm shift in how its users experience the internet.

Disclaimer:  MoneyControl is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.