Reliance Jio invests US$ 200 million in Glance, joining the league with Google and Mithril Capital

Glance, a leading AI-driven lock-screen platform, announced on February 14 that it will raise US$ 200 million from Jio Platforms Ltd.

Glance, a subsidiary of InMobi had previously raised US$ 145million from Google and its existing Silicon Valley based investor Mithril Capital in December 2020 taking the company valuation in the league of Unicorns.

In June, last year, the company had acquired the social commerce platform Shop101, for an estimated US$ 40 million to US$ 45 million, to offer influencer-led and live commerce on its platform.

The investment, made through Reliance's Jio Platforms unit, values Glance at US$ 1.7 billion to US$ 1.8 billion post-money.

With the investment, Glance is eyeing to bolster its growth in Asia as well as launch in key global markets including USA, Brazil, Mexico and Russia.

The company is aiming to create the world’s largest live content and commerce ecosystem on the lock screen and will use the funds raised to expand globally.

Further, it has also entered into a business partnership arrangement with Reliance Retail Ventures providing for Glance’s ‘lock screen platform’ to be integrated into the JioPhone Next smartphones to transform the internet experience for millions of Jio users.

In a statement, Naveen Tewari, Founder and CEO of Glance and InMobi Group, said "Jio’s investment into Glance and Glance’s presence on the lock screen of JioPhone Next smartphones will lead to a paradigm shift in how its users experience the internet."

Founded in 2019, Glance is a consumer internet company that has created two of the most disruptive digital platforms - Glance and Roposo. Over 400 million smartphones now come enabled with Glance’s next-generation internet experience.

The deal is expected to lead to further strategic collaborations between Glance, Reliance Retail and Jio across devices, commerce, content and gaming ecosystem

Reliance Industries is trading at Rs 2365 apiece with a gain of 1.13% over its previous closing at 11.33 am