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Consumer internet and adtech companies · India

InMobi

inmobi.com ↗

Indian mobile ad-tech and marketing platform running an ad exchange plus Glance lock-screen app.

Losing its protection
Assessed 22 July 2026 · Evidence as of 22 July 2026
The structural protection is eroding.
On the recordSince 22 July 2026 · Checkable from H2 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Third attempt at a roughly $1 billion IPO with JPMorgan and Jefferies advising
The call

InMobi makes real money today, but its exchange business faces AppLovin and the giants while its IPO story rests on Glance still proving it can turn a profit.

InMobi sells ads and lock-screen services to phone makers and carriers. The problem: its core ad marketplace is becoming a commodity that bigger players like AppLovin are already winning in, and AI-powered ad buying may cut out middlemen like InMobi entirely. The one thing that matters is whether phone makers keep renewing contracts with InMobi's lock-screen division and whether it can make money on its own, because if either fails, InMobi becomes just another ad platform that stronger competitors can undercut.

Why
01
AI pressure: AppLovin. AppLovin's AI-driven ad engine already pulls budgets away from InMobi's exchange with better-performing automated bidding. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: Google AdMob and Meta Audience Network. Google and Meta control most mobile ad budgets and inventory, squeezing InMobi's exchange to the margins that remain. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. Glance's lock-screen deals with phone makers give InMobi first-party data and reach that a pure exchange lacks.
What would change this call
InMobi files or shelves its IPO again within the next 6 months. shows whether public markets trust its financials and growth story.
Samsung or another major OEM renews or drops its Glance lock-screen deal. tests whether Glance's distribution moat is durable or contingent.
Glance AI reports standalone profitability or continued losses in next annual filing. shows whether the first-party-data business can stand apart from the ad exchange.
Key numbers
  • Group revenue about $270-280M (FY2023)
  • Glance revenue $38.7M, loss $130M (FY2023)
  • $350M pre-IPO raise closed (Dec 2025)
Named risks
  • Third IPO attempt could be shelved again after 2021 and 2024/2025 delays. Severity: high
  • Agentic AI buying could disintermediate InMobi's core SSP/exchange business. Severity: high
  • Conflicting revenue disclosures across sources undermine financial transparency ahead of listing. Severity: medium
  • Glance's OEM/carrier distribution deals could fail to renew, collapsing distribution moat. Severity: medium
  • Corporate redomiciliation from Singapore to India adds regulatory and tax execution risk pre-IPO. Severity: medium
Rivals, as read in July 2026
RivalDirectionEvidence
AppLovinlosing toFeb 2026 Deconstructor of Fun analysis calls InMobi 'once-great, hanging on' vs AppLovin's model
Google (AdMob)contestingGoogle dominates mobile exchange lane InMobi also competes in, as of 2026
Meta (Audience Network)contestingMeta ecosystem integration dwarfs InMobi's exchange reach, per 2025-10 industry commentary
Unity (ironSource/LevelPlay)contestingGrouped with InMobi as legacy mediation players outpaced by AppLovin, Feb 2026
Digital TurbinecontestingNamed peer in same subscale ad-tech cohort per Feb 2026 industry analysis
Questions people ask
Is InMobi profitable in 2026?
InMobi's FY23 group revenue was reported at roughly $268-281M with net profit around $41-42M per Wikipedia sourcing. Glance, its lock-screen unit, posted FY23 revenue of just $38.7M against losses of $130M, so group profitability leans heavily on the core ad exchange, not Glance.
Who owns InMobi now?
As of July 21, 2026, co-founder and CEO Naveen Tewari is InMobi's largest shareholder at roughly 40% after the company bought back a large SoftBank stake for about $250 million; SoftBank retains only a small residual position, per Economic Times.
Could AI replace InMobi's ad exchange business?
InMobi itself is racing to adapt: on June 3, 2026 it launched a sell-side AI agent with Scope3 letting autonomous buying agents purchase its inventory directly, an acknowledgment that agentic AI buying could disintermediate traditional SSP/exchange middlemen like InMobi.
Is InMobi's IPO actually happening?
InMobi appointed JPMorgan, Jefferies, Kotak Mahindra and Axis Capital around July 21, 2026 to run a roughly $1 billion IPO, its third attempt after shelved plans in 2021 and 2024/2025, per Business Standard and Inc42 reporting the same week.
Who is InMobi's biggest competitor?
AppLovin is repeatedly cited as the company actively taking share from InMobi's cohort of legacy mobile ad-tech firms; a February 17, 2026 Deconstructor of Fun analysis explicitly frames InMobi as 'once-great, hanging on' against AppLovin's vertically-integrated model. Google AdMob and Meta Audience Network dominate the broader exchange market.
What is Glance and does it make money for InMobi?
Glance is InMobi's AI-driven lock-screen content and commerce platform on Android devices. Its FY23 revenue was $38.7M against $130M in losses per Economic Times, and InMobi has since invested about $200M more into Glance AI with plans for a few hundred million more, per founder statements from May 22, 2025.
Timeline
  • 2026-07-21InMobi appoints JPMorgan, Jefferies, Kotak, Axis for reported $1B IPO
  • 2026-06-03InMobi and Scope3 launch sell-side AI agent for autonomous ad buying
  • 2026-05InMobi acquires MobileAction, a mobile app marketing analytics platform
  • 2026-04-29InMobi launches Ad Experiences product, Fossil first brand partner
  • 2025-12-04InMobi closes $350M pre-IPO financing from Varde, Elham, SeaTown
  • 2025-06-12InMobi launches Buyer Hub self-serve curation platform
  • 2025-05-22Glance AI launches with Google Gemini/Imagen across 140 countries
  • 2024-09-11InMobi secures $100M debt facility from MARS Growth Capital
  • 2024-02-02InMobi cuts about 5% of global workforce in AI-driven restructuring
  • 2011InMobi becomes India's first unicorn
Head to head
Affle Ltd. vs InMobi
Revision history
22 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
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