RIL stock jumps 2% as Jio Platforms will invest $200 million in Glance in Series D round of funding

15 Feb 2022 , 12:06 PM

Reliance Industries-backed Jio Platforms Limited (“Jio”) will invest S$200 million in Glance, a leading AI-driven lock-screen platform, in Series D round of funding. The transaction is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Akash Ambani, Director, Jio Platforms Limited, said, “Glance has grown at a phenomenal pace over the past two years and has given users a truly unique solution by unlocking the power of the lock screen for experiencing the internet, live content, creator-driven entertainment commerce and gaming. With the help of this investment, Glance expects to launch in several key markets globally as well as extend the experience to millions of Jio users, further reinforcing our commitment to provide the most advanced and next-level tech and digital ecosystem for consumers in India and beyond.”

Piyush Shah, Co-founder of InMobi Group and President & COO of Glance, said, “Glance has created a disruptive lock screen-first discovery platform for live content, commerce and gaming in Asia, and we intend to scale it globally going forward. Jio’s investment is a huge validation of this vision and gives us the firepower to take the innovative experience of Glance to surfaces across the world. We look forward to working with Jio to build the content, creator and commerce ecosystem of the future,
together.”

The proposed investment by Jio is aimed at accelerating Glance’s launch in several key international markets outside of Asia such as the USA, Brazil, Mexico and Russia. The company is aiming to create the world’s largest live content and commerce ecosystem on the lock screen and will use the funds raised to expand globally. In addition to Jio Platforms, Glance is also backed by technology giant Google and Silicon Valley-based venture fund Mithril Capital.

Concurrent with the proposed investment, Glance has also entered into a business partnership arrangement with Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (“Reliance Retail”), providing for Glance’s ‘lock screen platform’ to be integrated into the JioPhone Next smartphones to transform the internet experience for millions of Jio users. This is the latest in a series of strategic partnerships between Glance and global players in the mobile ecosystem. The deal is also expected to lead to further strategic collaborations between Glance, Reliance Retail and Jio across devices, commerce, content and gaming ecosystem.

Morgan Stanley acted as the exclusive financial advisor and Khaitan & Co. acted as the legal counsel to Glance. White & Case and K Law acted as the legal counsels and Ernst & Young provided accounting and tax due to diligence services to Jio Platforms.

At around 12.02 pm, RIL was trading at Rs2378.55 per piece up by Rs39.75  or 1.7% on BSE. This stock level would also be the intraday high on the exchange.