RIL May Look to Invest $250 Million in InMobi Glance

Multiple sources report that Reliance Industries Limited looks set to invest between $200-250 million in InMobi Glance, the lock screen content platform.

Reliance Looking to Pick Stake in InMobi Glance

The discussions are still in the nascent stage, a person said. Moreover, another person added that the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate will look to pick up 15-20% stake in InMobi.

On Monday, Bloomberg reported that RIL can invest as much as $300 million in Glance. It also said that the transaction can go through as early as within the next few weeks. This stake can help RIL to monetize through social commerce. What's more, the unicorn had acquired social commerce startup Shop101 in June to get in the backend commerce and logistics market.

Reliance also look at Glance as a way to monetize the lock screen real estate on the JioPhone Next. The 4G smartphone, jointly developed by RIL and Google (who also holds a stake in Glance) will go on sale by the end of October. The co-branded phone was set to launch on September 10; however, global chip and component shortages forced the companies to push the release back by a few weeks.

For Reliance, the incentive is there; per Counterpoint Research's quarterly Mobile Application Tracker, Glance has more than 150 million active users, growing 8% Q-o-Q.

Google holds a stake in both parties involved here; it had invested $4.5 billion in RIL’s Jio Platforms last year. The investment came as part of a larger plan to invest $10 billion in India.