SoftBank-backed mobile advertising company InMobi on Wednesday announced its $100 million debt round from MARS Growth Capital, a joint venture between MUFG and Liquidity Group. The company said it will deploy capital towards enhancing its artificial intelligence (AI) development and deployment efforts and fund potential AI-focused acquisitions.
“This financing round will be used to significantly deepen the company’s AI capabilities through both organic and inorganic means to deliver more immersive, personalized ways for brands to better engage with consumers beyond the standard ad unit,” InMobi said.
The latest round comes ahead of the company’s planned IPO next year in India, targeting a $10 billion valuation, TechCrunch had reported in July this year. Speaking on debt financing, Naveen Tewari, CEO of InMobi said AI is the bedrock of both InMobi’s consumer and enterprise businesses, and the company is using it to power the revolutionary lock screen experiences and InMobi Advertising’s platforms.
“AI is redefining the way businesses operate and create value, and InMobi is well-positioned to leverage its capabilities across multiple spaces in consumer and advertising technology,” says Navas Ebin, Head of APAC, Managing Director at Liquidity and MARS Growth Capital.
InMobi currently has two core businesses, Glance and InMobi Advertising. Glance is an AI-powered content discovery platform, delivers personalized content and entertainment directly to users’ smartphones while the advertising business offers data-driven media solutions for companies to connect with their audiences through targeted ads.
In July this year, Bloomberg had reported that Glance is in advanced talks to raise $250 million funding round led by existing investor Google.
The startup was earlier backed by Google in 2020 and in 2022 had raised $200 million from Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries’ Jio Platforms at more than $1 billion valuation.