Indus OS raises $4M as pre-series B round from existing investors Omidyar Network, Ventureast and JSW Ventures
Mumbai, India: December 21, 2017: Indus OS, India’s home-grown smartphone operating system and native applications platform, announced a pre-series B round of $4M from existing investors Omidyar Network, Ventureast and JSW Ventures. This latest round takes Indus OS’ total funding to $13M and the funds will be used to accelerate brand partnerships, user acquisition and new product development.
Rakesh Deshmukh, Co-Founder & CEO, Indus OS, said, “The continued faith shown by our existing investors will help us achieve our vision of empowering a billion Indian users with a smartphone platform of their choice. We will strengthen our efforts to build the Indus OS platform for developers to reach the Indian masses through dedicated Brand Accounts, a new way for Indians to discover the Internet.”
Badri Pillapakkam, Investment Partner at Omidyar Network said, “Indus OS continues to innovate for the smartphone user through its differentiated suite of regional language and system/ native application products that help accelerate Internet adoption by the Indian masses. We are confident that the team will cement strategic partnerships with international smartphone brands and build on the momentum gathered over the past few years.”
Indus OS, India’s preferred smartphone platform, has built a unique value proposition in the competitive smartphone market based on its localized, simplified and innovative operating system for India, thereby providing a software edge to its smartphone partners. Launched in 2015, Indus OS climbed to the #2 position in India within a year, ahead of global giants such as Apple’s iOS & Microsoft’s Windows. Currently, it commands a user base of 10 million, across its smartphone brand partners such as Micromax, Intex, Karbonn, Celkon, and Swipe.
Soon after setting up an office in China, Indus OS recently announced its first international brand partnership in November with itel Mobile, India’s 2nd largest mobile brand by market share. By working with more and more international smartphone brands, Indus OS now aims to acquire 100 million users in the next 3 years.
The latest round of funds will see Indus OS partnering with some of the major developers in the country through the expansion of its Brand Accounts, a novel integration of internet services within the OS platform. These Brand Accounts on the Indus OS platform aim to power the digital needs of users in a revolutionary contextual and seamless interface that is made to reduce battery and data consumption while making the experience intuitive. It offers a new way for Indians to discover Internet services without the need to download any apps. Ola Cabs, was the first to launch a Brand Account on the Indus OS Platform in August this year which enables new users to discover Ola, while existing users can transact seamlessly through the default messenger application. These Brand Account also make Ola’s experience available in 12 regional languages catering to ~95% of the Indian population. Indus OS aims to expand its Brand Account strategy exponentially over the next year.
Earlier this year, Indus OS announced the development of the first Aadhaar authenticated and UPI integrated OS in the country. The company is consistently evolving to meet the technological needs of the Indian consumer and the ‘Digital India’ mandate of the Govt. of India. Indus OS today offers a complete platform rich in patented features and innovations that empower Indian users with smartphone technology.
About Indus OS
Indus OS is India’s operating system. Made in India, for Indians – this operating system is built on the three pillars of innovation, simplification and content. Indus OS was launched in May 2015 and quickly climbed to the #2 OS spot in India by mid 2016, overtaking global giants such as Apple’s iOS & Microsoft’s Windows.
Indus OS’ vision is to digitally connect 1 billion people in the emerging markets with a smartphone ecosystem of their choice in English and 23 regional languages. Indus OS also has its very own app market place called App Bazaar with over 400,000 applications. The company has a team of over 100 employees with offices in India, China and Bangladesh, with over 80% of the team dedicated towards technology & R&D. Indus OS is also constantly striving to adapt its existing portfolio and introduce new features aligned with government initiatives, especially geared towards supporting the roadmap of Digital India.
Indus OS has received Series A funding from Omidyar Network, VenturEast and JSW Ventures, and is angel funded by Hari Padmanabhan, Mayank Singhal from Temasek Holdings, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal from Snapdeal, Amit Gupta and Naveen Tiwari from Inmobi and Pranay Chulet from Quikr.
