Reliance Jio Invests $200 Mn In Google-Backed Glance

Google-backed Glance has received $200 Mn funding from Reliance’s Jio in its Series D round. Reliance Jio, in a statement, said that the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Glance will be utilising the fresh round of investment to expedite its launch in countries such as the US, Brazil, Mexico, and Russia.  

Glance has also entered into a business partnership with Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (Reliance Retail). As part of the partnership, Glance’s ‘lock screen platform’ will be integrated into the JioPhone Next smartphones.

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

Speaking about its investment, Akash Ambani, director, Jio Platforms Limited said, “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.”

The investment comes almost two years after Glance raised $145 Mn in its Series C round. The round was led by tech giant Google along with existing investor Mithril Capital. The round helped Glance to become a unicorn in 2020.

Founded in 2019, Glance claims that its lock screen platform is present in more than 400 Mn devices across markets in Asia. It offers news, sports, entertainment content and games on several smartphone devices. Several devices from Xiaomi, Samsung, and Vivo come with pre-installed Glance app.

Headquartered in Singapore, Glance claims it has more than 163 Mn users in India, 25 Mn users across Southeast Asia. It claims that an average user spends 25 minutes on the platform every day. It has four business units namely – Glance Lock Screen, Roposo, Glance Collective, and Shop101.

The platform offers its content in regional and international languages such as English, Hindi, Bangla, Tamil, Indonesia’s Bahasa and Thailand’s Thai, among others. 

Glance is an unconsolidated subsidiary of InMobi Group.  Naveen Tiwari founded InMobi Group was the first Indian startup to enter the unicorn club in 2011. 

In 2019, InMobi had acquired Roposo, a short-video platform to add vernacular video content on Glance. In June 2021, it acquired Shop101, a social ecommerce platform, to integrate celebrity and influencer-led commerce on Glance and Roposo. 

Earlier this year, Reliance Jio announced investing $240 Mn in Bengaluru-based hyperlocal delivery startup Dunzo. The round also saw investment from Lightbox, Lightrock, 3L Capital, and Alteria Capital, among others. Earlier this month, Reliance Jio also invested $15 Mn in Pranav Mistry’s Two Platforms for a stake of 15%.