Glance to boost its regional content after acquiring Roposo, a short-video platform

• Glance will now have access to Roposo’s regional content creators and 42 million users
• Roposo, founded by three IIT Delhi alumni, offers a TV-like interface that allows users to watch videos in 10 languages and across 24 channels that are powered by a pan-India network of regional influencers.
• Glance has more than 60 million daily active users (DAUs) as of November 2019, up from 50 million DAUs in September 2019.

Glance has acquired Roposo, a Tiger Global and Bertelsmann backed short-video platform to access its extensive network of professionals, regional content creators and more than 42 million users. The acquisition also gives Glance ownership of Roposo’s video technology, platform and brand.

Roposo, founded by three IIT Delhi alumni, offers a TV-like interface that allows users to watch videos in 10 languages and across 24 channels that are powered by a pan-India network of regional influencers. The acquisition of the platform will enable Glance to tap into Roposo’s regional influencers and create professional vernacular, video content in line with Glance’s editorial guidelines for the lock screen.

Nearly 60% of Glance users in India belong to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, and spend an average of 22 minutes per day consuming content in a language of their choice. Glance currently provides content in 4 languages that include Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, besides English.

“Most of India wants high quality video content in vernacular since only 10% of India speaks English,” said Naveen Tewari, Founder and CEO at InMobi Group. “Glance’s focus on 3Vs - video content across a variety of topics in vernacular - has already made it India’s fastest growing content platform. This acquisition will enable Glance to bring to the fore content created by Roposo’s large vernacular influencer community.”

Glance, which had announced an investment of $45 million from Mithril Capital in September 2019, has been growing rapidly since its first shipment in Q2 2018. It is integrated with the native user experience on most Android smartphones from India’s leading mobile brands. Glance has more than 60 million daily active users (DAUs) as of November 2019, up from 50 million DAUs in September 2019. The parent company – InMobi – founded in 2007, is one of the leaders in the adtech space and was India’s first unicorn, which is valued at over $1 billion