Glance – Company Profile

Glance is the world’s leading lock screen platform that delivers high-quality and personalized content to the user’s lock screen. It’s a completely ad-free platform and comes preinstalled with specific mobile phone brands such as Samsung, Xiaomi, Gionee, and Vivo. It is to note that Glance is not an app. However, users do have the option to disable it. Glance utilizes an AI backend that displays personalized content to users based on their preferences. The content is delivered across various topics such as breaking news, entertainment, sports, politics, auto news, lifestyle, health, food, etc.

The content is delivered in multiple languages including English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Bahasa. Glance is currently available only on Android phones. Glance also delivers short video content via its Roposo platform. According to the company, more than 115 million people use the Glance platform every day. Average time spent accessing content on the lock screen is 25 minutes.

Glance has global ambitions and has already made a move in that direction by opening its office in Singapore. Glance is targeting several South East Asian markets such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines.

History:

Glance was founded by Naveen Tewari, who is already credited with founding InMobi. A mobile advertising technology company, InMobi was the first startup in India to achieve Unicorn status. The idea for Glance came to the founder when he was thinking about an entirely new way of delivering content to mobile users. He realized that a user’s lock screen could be a very good place to deliver high-quality content. It will allow users to access their preferred content with just a tap, without having to open their smartphone or install any apps. The aim was to deliver visually rich content that can be accessed with just a glance. The company was subsequently launched in 2017.

Funding:

Glance has received investments worth USD 190 million via two rounds of funding. Investors include Mithril Capital Management and Google. With the latest investment of USD 145 million, the company’s valuation has crossed USD 1 billion. It is now one of the fastest startups in India to have achieved the Unicorn tag.

Acquisitions:

Glance had acquired short-video platform Roposo in 2019. The acquisition allowed the company to deliver short-video content on its lock-screen platform. It also enabled access to millions of users that were already using Roposo platform.

Competitors:

Glance competes with other platforms such as Airship, iZooto and Buzzvil.

About the Founder:

An alumnus of IIT and MBA from Harvard Business School, Naveen Tewari currently serves as the CEO of InMobi, which owns Glance and Roposo. Prior to InMobi, Naveen had worked with various organizations such as McKinsey & Company, Charles River Ventures, and Paytm.