InMobi Secures $100 Million for AI Acquisitions Ahead of IPO

Adtech startup InMobi has raised $100 million in debt funding as the profitable Indian company looks to “significantly deepen” its artificial intelligence initiatives and fund potential acquisitions in the AI ​​sector ahead of a planned IPO next year.

Mars Growth Capital, a joint venture between MUFG and Liquidity Group, has funded the funding, InMobi said on Wednesday. The investment is the latest in a growing Indian portfolio for Mars, which has also backed fast-trading startup Zepto and marketplace Infra.Market in recent months.

SoftBank-backed InMobi, whose clients include Mastercard, Samsung, Vodafone, and Coca-Cola, has been actively exploring AI advances over the past two years to make ads more interactive. The company, which works with tens of thousands of app developers in more than 50 countries, recently developed techniques to seamlessly integrate native ads with content, as TechCrunch previously reported.

InMobi also owns Glance, a unicorn startup that operates the Android lock screen platform. The Android platform is in separate talks to raise more than $200 million, TechCrunch reported.

InMobi is eyeing a valuation of around $10 billion in its initial public offering planned for next year in India. The company expects to generate annual revenue of more than $700 million by the end of March, TechCrunch previously reported.

The debt financing from MARS Growth Capital represents one of the largest deals to date for the investment firm. “Liquidity, through its JV with MUFG, Mars Growth, is committed to growing the Asian technology ecosystem,” said Ron Daniel, co-founder and CEO of Liquidity Group and CEO of Mars Growth, in a statement.