InMobi in talks with bankers, investors to raise up to $150 mn ahead of IPO plans

Mint’s requests for comment.The development comes weeks after InMobi raised $350 million in new financing from Varde Partners, Elham Credit Partners and SeaTown Holdings, according to a report by The Economic Times.The report said most of the proceeds would be used to fund a share buyback from existing investors, primarily SoftBank and other private equity shareholders.Following the transaction, SoftBank’s stake fell to about 5–7% from around 35%. The deal was finalised at a valuation of under $1 billion.Founded in 2007 by Naveen Tewari, InMobi offers mobile display advertising, app-install campaigns and other adtech solutions, increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to serve advertisers.The company works with marketers and publishers, helping them connect with target audiences using data-driven analytics and providing tools for monetization, consent management and user engagement.In 2019, InMobi diversified beyond adtech with the launch of Glance, a lock-screen content discovery platform preloaded on smartphones.

Glance reached 450 million smartphones across India, Southeast Asia and Japan within five years and aims to touch one billion lock screens by 2028, Tewari told Mint last year.Glance, backed by Google and Jio Platforms, achieved unicorn status around five years ago and is also eyeing a separate public listing—although after InMobi’s IPO.InMobi earns a fee when it arranges advertisements on Glance, similar to other third-party apps. Glance remains an unconsolidated subsidiary, meaning its balance sheet is separate from InMobi’s, though the parent benefits as the platform scales.The core adtech business, where SoftBank is an investor, has been profitable since 2016, though margins have fluctuated, partly