Mobile advertising technology company InMobi has partnered with Chinese app developer APUS Group to help it grow in India and access its more than 200 million users across the world. APUS, acronym for “A Perfect User System” aims to acquire more than 80 million users in India by 2016. APUS is a Chinese startup Owned by Beijing Qi Lin He Sheng Technology Co, that customizes Android software. APUS is one of the most popular apps on Google’s app store.
InMobi is a Mobile advertising technology company and it competes with Facebook and Google in the £100 billion global mobile advertising market, and one of the few Indian startups that has successfully gone international. InMobi, currently estimated to be worth around $2.5 billion, was set up in 2007 and is backed by the likes of SoftBank and early Google backer Sherpalo Ventures. It already reaches 1.4 billion devices and turned profitable in the three months to December. Google is entering China again and that’s added incentive for InMobi to secure its base there.
As per its arrangement with APUS, InMobi will have exclusive access to all APUS users in India. APUS will earn revenue through advertisements on its app that run on InMobi platform.
The partnership with APUS will allow InMobi, which drives app downloads for brands and puts up display ads on various apps based on past browsing habits of shoppers, to reach out to a wider audience. “While we have grown quickly worldwide in the past year, we think the opportunity that exists in India is still largely untapped and will lead the third wave of significant mobile growth”, said Li Tao, the chief executive and founder of APUS.
InMobi said it will help APUS expand its footprint in India—increase its user base and market share—and will also help the Chinese company hire software experts here to develop solutions that suit the local needs.