Reliance Jio Platforms to invest $200m in lock-screen platform Glance

Glance, a leading AI-driven lock-screen platform, announced today that it has agreed to raise US$200 million from Jio Platforms Limited (“Jio”) in its Series D round of funding.

Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, has announced an investment of $200 million in Glance, an artificial intelligence (AI) driven lock-screen platform.

The investment is part of Glance’s Series D funding round.

Based in Singapore, Glance is an unconsolidated subsidiary of InMobi Group, a mobile marketing and advertising platform.

Glance is funded by Google and global investment firm Mithril Capital from whom it had raised $145 million in December 2020.

The company provides AI-driven customized content in various languages such as English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Bahasa on the lock screen of Android smartphones.

Piyush Shah — Co-founder of InMobi Group and President and COO of Glance said: “Glance has created a disruptive lock screen-first discovery platform for live content, commerce and gaming in Asia, and we intend to scale it globally going forward. Jio’s investment is a huge validation of this vision and gives us the firepower to take the innovative experience of Glance to surfaces across the world.

“We look forward to working with Jio to build the content, creator and commerce ecosystem of the future, together.”

Reliance Jio Platforms to invest $200m in AI-driven lock-screen platform Glance. Photo courtesy of Nairspecht/Wikipedia.org.

Jio Platforms’ investment is expected to help in expediting Glance’s launch in a number of important international markets outside of Asia such as the US, Mexico, Brazil, and Russia.

Glance aims to create the largest live content and commerce ecosystem in the world on the lock screen and will utilize the proceeds to grow globally.

Currently, Glance’s lock screen platform is said to be present on over 400 million devices in markets across Asia.

Simultaneously with the proposed investment, Glance has forged a business partnership arrangement with Reliance Retail Ventures, the retail arm of Reliance Industries for the integration of its lock screen platform into the JioPhone Next smartphones.

Akash Ambani — Director of Jio Platforms 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 from Jio Platforms is subject to the meeting of customary closing conditions and receipt of regulatory approvals.

Recently, Jio Platforms acquired a 25% stake in Two Platforms, a Silicon Valley-based deep tech startup, for $15 million.