In a mobile-first economy like India, smartphones have seen rapid adoption, and startups are innovating for the handset. Here is a startup that has built a captive customer base at the entry point of any mobile handset: the screen.
Bengaluru-based Glance provides content on the screen of a mobile handset that is snappy, consumable, and in sync with the needs of both the millennial and Generation Z.
The aim of InMobi’s mobile-first platform Glance is simple: provide visually rich content that informs and entertains users – be it an entertainment factoid, a sporting event result, a news snippet, or a fashion recommendation. And all this, one lock-screen at a time.
Today, Glance has over 50 million daily active users under its belt who spend an average of 22 minutes. Glance is not an app, but comes as a service that is pre-installed on mobile phones manufactured by Samsung, Xiaomi, Gionee, and Vivo.
As the entry point of Glance is through the mobile handset manufacturers, it gives them an edge in reaching out to the content consuming public.
Affirmation for Glance came in the form of investment from Mithril Capital, whose Co-founder Peter Theil is a legend in his own right in the Silicon Valley.
This is just the beginning for Glance as mobiles as the platform for content consumption is going to remain for a long time and this will only enable this startup to come out with newer innovations.