Glance (company)

Glance is an Indian artificial intelligence based software company that delivers personalised content to the lock screens of smartphones. Co-founded in 2019[1] by Naveen Tewari, Abhay Singhal, Mohit Saxena, and Piyush Shah[2] and headquartered in Bangalore,[3] Glance is owned by InMobi, a multinational technology company.[4][5]

Glance
TypePrivate
Industry
Founded2019 (2019)
Headquarters
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Naveen Tewari
(CEO)
ProductsRoposo
Number of employees
1000
ParentInMobi
Websitewww.glance.com

History

Glance owns and operates a screen zero platform that uses artificial intelligence technology to deliver personalised, relevant, ad-free, and live content across different categories such as games, stories, and news on the lockscreen of the users’ devices.[6][7]

In September 2019, Glance raised $45 million funding from the United States-based venture capital firm, Mithril Capital.[8] In December 2020, Glance raised $145 million from Google and Mithril Capital,[9] increasing its valuation to over $1 billion.[10] It is the second company from the InMobi group to have become a unicorn.[11]

In June 2022, Glance launched a three-day digital event called Glance LIVE Fest, with Bollywood actor Rajkummar Rao starring in their marketing campaign to promote it.[12] The live and interactive digital event was accessible to anyone with Glance's lockscreen enabled on their smartphone. Glance LIVE Fest included live shows on sports, celebrity and creator-led entertainment, gaming, and shopping.

Technology

The Glance software comes pre-installed on various android smartphone devices, such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme etc.[13] Whenever a user unlocks the phone, the smartphone screen refreshes to load new visual and interactive content.[14][15]

Apart from English, the content is available in six Indian languages - Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, Kannada - and Bahasa (Indonesia).[16] Users spend around 25 minutes consuming content on Glance every day[17] across 19 content categories including sports, news, entertainment, fashion, gaming, travel, and wildlife.[18][19]

As of March 2022, Glance has 150 million active users, and currently partners with Oppo, Vivo, Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme and in talks with many other OEMs.[20]

Acquisitions

Glance acquired Roposo, a short-video platform, in November 2019, for an undisclosed amount to add vernacular video content to its platform.[21][22][23] In June 2021, it acquired Shop101, a social e-commerce platform, for an undisclosed amount to integrate celebrity and influencer-led commerce on Glance and Roposo.[24] In March 2022, it acquired Gambit, an Indian gaming company, for an undisclosed amount to accelerate Glance’s ambition of building the biggest platform for NFT-based live gaming experiences for Gen-Z, across markets. [25]

References
  1. "Naveen Tewari: The wizard of two unicorns". www.fortuneindia.com. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  2. "The year of the unicorns". www.fortuneindia.com. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  3. staff, CNBC com (15 May 2019). "InMobi 2019 Disruptor 50". www.cnbc.com. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  4. After InMobi, Naveen Tewari scores a second unicorn with Glance – the lock screen wizard
  5. Vankipuram, Meera (25 November 2019). "InMobi's Glance acquires video platform Roposo to add more vernacular content". mint. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  6. After InMobi, Naveen Tewari scores a second unicorn with Glance – the lock screen wizard
  7. "India records 200% increase in time spent on lock-screen content, says Glance report". HT Tech. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  8. Mandavia, Megha. "InMobi's Glance raises $45M funding from Mithril Capital". The Economic Times. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  9. "InMobi's Glance enters unicorn club after Google-led funding round". m.businesstoday.in. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  10. Abrar, Peerzada (22 December 2020). "InMobi's Glance turns unicorn with $145 mn investment from Google, Mithril". Business Standard India. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  11. Sujit John (22 December 2020). "Google invests in Glance, second unicorn for Naveen Tewari - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  12. Focus, ABP Live (2 June 2022). "Glance LIVE Fest From June 3-5: How Fans Got Rajkummar Rao To Be Part Of It". news.abplive.com. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  13. "India's Glance tops 100M daily active users in 21 months". TechCrunch. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  14. "Glance raises $45 million funding; to launch three new offerings, says Naveen Tewari of InMobi Group". www.businesstoday.in. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  15. "InMobi Wants To Glue Your Attention To Your Lock Screen". Forbes India. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  16. Vankipuram, Meera (25 November 2019). "InMobi's Glance acquires video platform Roposo to add more vernacular content". mint. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  17. "India records 200% increase in time spent on lock-screen content, says Glance report". HT Tech. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  18. "Naveen Tewari: The wizard of two unicorns". www.fortuneindia.com. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  19. Gupta, Surajeet Das (15 February 2021). "InMobi's Glance eyes TikTok acquisition to become a global powerhouse". Business Standard India. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  20. Gupta, Surajeet Das (15 February 2021). "InMobi's Glance eyes TikTok acquisition to become a global powerhouse". Business Standard India. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  21. Vankipuram, Meera (25 November 2019). "InMobi's Glance acquires video platform Roposo to add more vernacular content". mint. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  22. "InMobi Group Strengthens Content Play With Roposo Acquisition". Inc42 Media. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  23. "InMobi's Glance acquires Roposo - Times of India". The Times of India. PTI. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  24. Ahmad, Samreen (14 June 2021). "InMobi's Glance enters influencer-led shopping with Shop101 acquisition". Business Standard India. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  25. "Glance". glance.com. Retrieved 19 September 2022.


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