Jio Platforms to invest $200 Mn in Google-backed Glance

Glance, an InMobi Group lock-screen platform, said on Monday that it will raise $200 million from Reliance’s Jio Platforms Ltd., according to a prepared statement.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions as well as regulatory approvals. According to Reuters, the investment will be worth $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion post-money to Glance.

Jio’s projected investment intends to hasten Glance’s entry into a number of important overseas markets outside of Asia, including the United States, Brazil, Mexico, and Russia. The funding will be used to develop the company’s live content capabilities and to extend its commerce environment.

In addition to the planned investment, Glance has signed into a commercial collaboration agreement with Reliance Retail Ventures, which calls for Glance’s ‘lock screen platform’ to be included into JioPhone Next devices.

Glance might be on “hundreds of millions” of Jio phones this year, according to InMobi Group founder and CEO Naveen Tewari.

In June of last year, the business paid an estimated $40 million to $45 million for social commerce platform Shop101 in order to deliver influencer-led and live commerce on its network.

Glance, which originated as part of InMobi, was spun out as a separate company in July 2019. In addition to Glance, InMobi is the parent company of two other companies: advertising technology InMobi UMC and data business TruFactor.

According to its Singapore regulatory filings, InMobi is now the largest investor in Glance (excluding this transaction), with a 63.3 percent interest, followed by Mithril Capital Management with a 22.6 percent share. Glance is owned by Alphabet (formerly Google Capital) to the tune of 12.7 percent.

Glance’s material ranges in duration from 10 seconds to two minutes and includes anything from news to short films to single-player games. It has worked with over 1,000 media and advertising businesses, as well as smartphone makers such as Samsung, to pre-install the platform.

It’s worth noting that Google spent $4.5 billion in Jio Platforms in July 2020 as part of a bigger commitment to invest $10 billion in India over the next few years.

Jio’s investment in Glance comes on the heels of the announcement of a strategic combination between ShareChat and the short video sharing app MX TakaTak. Roposo, a short video sharing app by Glance, was also available. However, the firm subsequently pivots to live commerce.