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InMobi

Overview

InMobi is an Indian technology company headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It operates a global mobile advertising and marketing platform that connects advertisers, publishers, and consumers through programmatic and in-app advertising solutions. The company is widely regarded as one of India's earliest internet "unicorns", having attained a valuation of over one billion US dollars in 2011.

Key facts

Type Private company
Industry Mobile advertising, marketing technology
Founded 2007
Founders Naveen Tewari, Mohit Saxena, Amit Gupta, Abhay Singhal
Headquarters Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Country of origin India
Chief Executive Naveen Tewari

Background

InMobi was founded in 2007 in Bengaluru, originally under the name mKhoj, as a mobile search start-up. The founding team comprised Naveen Tewari, Mohit Saxena, Amit Gupta, and Abhay Singhal. The company subsequently pivoted to mobile advertising, rebranding itself as InMobi to reflect its focus on advertising solutions delivered to mobile devices.

The company's platform serves advertisers and app publishers by enabling targeted advertisement delivery, audience analytics, and monetisation of mobile inventory. Over the years, InMobi has expanded into adjacent areas such as content discovery, lock-screen advertising, and consumer marketing technology.

History and timeline

  • 2007: Founded as mKhoj in Bengaluru.
  • 2009: Rebranded as InMobi and shifted focus from mobile search to mobile advertising.
  • 2011: Received a significant investment from SoftBank, which valued the company at over one billion US dollars, making it one of the earliest Indian technology unicorns.
  • 2015: Launched Miip, a product discovery and recommendation engine for mobile users.
  • 2016: Acquired AerServ and other firms to expand into video advertising and supply-side platform technology.
  • 2018: Acquired Pinch Media (operator of the Glance lock-screen content platform), which later spun off as a separate consumer-focused subsidiary.

Subsidiaries and products

InMobi operates several products and subsidiaries that together form its technology group:

  • Glance: A lock-screen content and commerce platform aimed at smartphone users, particularly on Android devices.
  • Roposo: A short-video and live-commerce platform acquired by the group, integrated with Glance.
  • InMobi Exchange and DSP: Programmatic advertising marketplaces and demand-side platforms for mobile inventory.

Significance

InMobi is considered a notable example of an Indian-origin technology company that built a globally distributed advertising platform from Bengaluru, with offices across Asia, Europe, and North America. Its 2011 valuation milestone is frequently cited in discussions of the Indian start-up ecosystem as a turning point that demonstrated the viability of large-scale, globally competitive consumer internet businesses originating from India. The company has also been cited as one of the early Indian firms to attract major investment from Japan-based SoftBank.

References

  • Wikidata entity: Q6008783
  • Official website of InMobi