Bengaluru: Mobile advertising firm InMobi has tied up Chinese app maker Apus, marking the popular developer’s entry to the Indian market.
InMobi will have exclusive rights to advertise to nearly 25 million Apus users in India for the next 24 months and it will also have first rights to the Apus’ global advertising inventory.
“We are doing a deep strategic partnership in India involving product collaboration, market access, helping them hire and build a brand and it could even become a joint venture between Apus Global and InMobi,” said In-Mobi Chief Executive Officer Naveen Tewari. China based Apus which has raised $116 mn from investors, is looking to invest $15 mn in India as it targets the next billion user market and wants to grow its userbase to 80 million in by 2016.
Globally, it is targeting 300 million users by the end of this year and 500 million users by the end of 2016, the Tao Li, Founder and CEO of Apus Group said. The company makes various utility apps for mobile phones.
Li hinted that the company could launch a joint venture with InMobi to launch its India unit. “The cooperation will include local brand building, user base growth, monetization and relevant product technology. Both sides are exploring co-operation on captive level,” said Li.
“We think this has huge potential. The second part of the collaboration is that outside India where we will help Apus monetize in the global markets,” said Tiwari. The two companies are also trying to “figure out” if they can share user data to help monetize better.
InMobi has recently stiched up multiple partnerships with companies including Dell Inc and Paytm. With Dell, the company will build an e-commerce platform for its customers. Paytm will sell digital goods from In-Mobi’s network on its shopping app and in turn physical goods from Paytm’s marketplace will be sold through InMobi’s advertising network.
Increasingly, Chinese technology companies have started scouting India for new opportunities. Besides the Apus Group, Chinese search engine giant Baidu and private conglomerate Fosun are eyeing the Indian market market. “Of the three largest Internet markets, the US, India and China, you will increasingly see Indian and Chinese companies partner,” said Tewari.
