India's lock screen platform Glance, owned by ad-tech firm InMobi, will raise $200 million from Reliance Group's Jio Platforms in its latest round of funding. This deal is yet to receive regulatory approvals.
Reliance says the investment is aimed at accelerating Glance's launch in several key international markets outside of Asia such as the US, Brazil, Mexico and Russia.
In addition to Jio Platforms, Glance, is also backed by technology giant Google and Silicon Valley-based venture fund Mithril Capital.
Here's why Glance has investors drooling.
What Is Glance?
Glance is a content feed for your lock screen. Instead of plain old wallpapers, it shows you a wide array of content – short videos, games, fun facts, etc.
You can swipe through cards, which consist of an image and a headline, and tap on them to fire up an embedded browser which will show you the full piece of content.
You won't find Glance on the app store, you'll find it in settings, since it isn't an app but a built-in feature in Android phones. The content is available in different languages across categories, including fashion, entertainment, sports, travel and tech.
The platform also uses machine learning to fine tune your experience over time. The more you use Glance, the more it will learn your preferences and show you relevant content.
When Glance launched in 2019, instead of competing for downloads on Play Store, it reportedly approached manufacturers like Xiaomi and Samsung directly.
A Look at the Numbers
Glance says it has over 150 million daily active users in India – that means one in every four Indian smartphone users is active on the platform. These users supposedly spend 25 minutes per day consuming content on it.
It is also showing explosive growth. According to a report by research firm Counterpoint, its user base grew by 8 percent in the second quarter of 2021.
Glance has a robust presence in the sub-$250 (roughly Rs 18,700) price band, which forms about 80 percent of its active user base. Here's a price band split for it's active users in Q2 2021, according to the report:
Below $100 - 12 percent
$100 to $150 - 21 percent
$150 to $250 - 46 percent
Above $250 - 21 percent
More than one-tenth of the 5G smartphone installed base is equipped with the Glance platform, thus making it a future-ready test pad for the next phase of content innovation, the report says.
The data also shows that 70 percent of newly-launched smartphones in India in the below $250 segment, now come pre-installed with the Glance.
At present, Glance's lock screen platform is present on more than 400 million devices across markets in Asia.
What Is Reliance Planning?
Profits. After the investment, Reliance values Glance at $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion, an internal source told Reuters.
Reliance also launched the Jio Phone Next in November last year, which falls firmly within the sub-$100 bracket. At around Rs 6,000 it is one of the cheapest smartphones on the market.
It plans to put these affordable phones into the hands of most Indians, and, of course, Glance will be integrated into these devices.
"Reliance is now disrupting the smartphone market with launch of its JioPhone Next smartphones. Jio’s investment into Glance 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," the press release said.
The deal is also expected to lead to further strategic collaborations between Glance, Reliance Retail and Jio across devices, commerce, content and gaming ecosystem.
Glance is currently working on growing its platform and cashing in on its gigantic market reach. It acquired the short-video content platform Roposo in 2019 and e-commerce platform Shop101 in 2021.
Roposo has now shifted course to become a live entertainment commerce platform where creators sell you products.
“The course to monetisation is important. In 2021, we will spend a lot of time trying to figure out the right experiences in monetisation,” founder and chief executive (CEO) Naveen Tewari told The Economic Times last year.
(With inputs from The Economic Times and Reuters)
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