InMobi

InMobi is a performance based mobile ad network backed by Soft Bank and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The company was founded in 2007 in India with offices in several countries. InMobi won a spot in MIT Technology Review's 50 most disruptive companies of 2013.

History

InMobi, earlier known as mKhoj, started as an SMS-based search platform with initial funding from Mumbai Angels. In 2007, the company switched to a more scalable business model: mobile advertising. After the business model change, mKhoj rebranded itself to InMobi and received two rounds of funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures. After venturing into mobile advertisement, the company initially banked upon mobile web published to generate revenue through Mobile Value Added Services via Mobile Phone Networks billing.

Funding

InMobi had received $220.6 Million via Angel, Series A, Series B, and Series C funding. In September 2011, it received a $200 million funding from Softbank which would come in two Tranches - one of $100 million in September 2011 and the other $100 million in April 2012. In 2014, it secured an additional $5 Mn in funding from its existing investor Softbank. Softbank has further committed additional $25 Mn in InMobi if new investors come on board. In 2015, InMobi has now put a name to its culture, 'YaWiO' and given it a formal structure, which includes making it one of several festivals InMobi hosts every year. The first 'YaWiO' event - to which it invited three startups to engage with its workforce for two days - began in Bengaluru on Monday. InMobi will also open its offices for other startups to observe its culture, how it treats and works with employees, which it expects will benefit new businesses for whom personnel-management is often a struggle.