InMobi sets sights on IPO

Mobile-advertising firm InMobi Pte plans to go public in India in the latter half of next year, aiming to benefit from the country's booming stock market.

Backed by SoftBank Group Corp., InMobi, which enables companies to place ads on mobile devices, will relocate its corporate base from Singapore to India in early 2025 to facilitate an IPO, CEO Naveen Tewari stated. This move brings InMobi back to its roots, as it was originally founded in Mumbai but incorporated in Singapore in 2007 to attract more investors.

“The opportunity in India from a global investor lens is significantly more now,” said Tewari. “Retail investors are clearly leveraging the capital markets, especially for tech stocks.”

Competing with Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, InMobi became India’s first venture capital-backed unicorn in 2011. It initially aimed for a US listing with a $15 billion valuation, but the pandemic and US stock market downturn halted those plans.

Now, boosted by India’s robust economic growth, Tewari is optimistic about India's capital markets. While some Indian tech unicorns have struggled post-IPO, others like Zomato Ltd. have seen success. Tewari believes India will mirror the US S&P 500 Index’s tech dominance over the next decade.

InMobi hasn't yet appointed bankers for its IPO or provided a valuation estimate, though TechCrunch reported a potential $10 billion valuation. India’s stock market capitalization surpassed Hong Kong’s in January, driven by growth prospects, policy reforms, and reduced global investment in China. The Nifty 50 Index has risen 13% this year, outperforming the MSCI Asia Pacific gauge.

Several Indian tech firms previously based in business-friendly regions like Singapore are returning. Pine Labs Pvt recently moved back to India and is considering a $1 billion IPO. This trend follows Walmart Inc.-backed PhonePe’s similar move two years ago.

Gaurav Sood of Avendus Capital predicts that four or five tech companies could list in India by 2026, particularly those too small to attract US IPO interest.

The homecoming of Indian startups coincides with a sluggish IPO market in Singapore and widespread tech industry layoffs. Bloomberg Intelligence analysts noted that tech job cuts in Singapore might remain high post-pandemic.

InMobi’s sales remained steady at $268 million for the fiscal year ending March 2023, and the company has been profitable for several years. Tewari, a Harvard Business School alumnus, co-founded InMobi with peers and later co-founded mobile content provider Glance in 2019, with InMobi as the largest shareholder.

Glance, backed by Mukesh Ambani, is in advanced talks to raise up to $250 million in a funding round led by Google, as previously reported by Bloomberg News.

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