Glance is a consumer technology company, an InMobi Group venture, that serves content and shoppable experiences on smartphone lock screens; reports differ on whether its base is Bengaluru, India or Singapore.

This Startup Deep Dive explains what Glance does, how it makes money, who backs it, how it compares with rivals and what could go wrong, using publicly available information. It is educational and not investment advice. Last updated: October 2026.

Glance in Brief

• What it is: Glance is an Indian Lock-screen content and commerce company based in Bengaluru.
• Who it serves: businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers.
• Delivers news, entertainment, live events and shopping content on the smartphone lock screen without unlocking the phone
• Runs commerce (shoppertainment) alongside advertising
• Owns the short-video platform Roposo, acquired in 2019
• Funding: Reports differ: about $367.9 million to $390 million.

Glance Quick Facts

Figures marked “reported” come from published reports and may differ between sources; “Not disclosed” means no reliable public figure was found.

What Is Glance?

Glance operates in the Lock-screen content and commerce space in India. Understanding a company like this starts with three questions: who is the customer, what painful problem is being solved, and why the solution is better than the alternatives. The sections below apply that lens to Glance.

• Delivers news, entertainment, live events and shopping content on the smartphone lock screen without unlocking the phone
• Runs commerce (shoppertainment) alongside advertising
• Owns the short-video platform Roposo, acquired in 2019
• Acquired social commerce platform Shop101 in 2021 and Indian gaming company Gambit in 2022

The Origin Story of Glance

Every company starts from a noticed gap and a team willing to commit to closing it. Strong origin stories are specific: a clear problem, a founding team with relevant skills, and an early product that real customers could test. Founder-market fit, meaning the team’s lived experience or technical depth in the domain, tends to predict how fast a young company learns.

• Founders: Naveen Tewari, Abhay Singhal, Mohit Saxena, Piyush Shah.
• Glance was co-founded in 2019 by Naveen Tewari, Abhay Singhal, Mohit Saxena and Piyush Shah within the InMobi group
• Some sources also list Amit Gupta among the founders
• Headquarters is reported differently: Bengaluru in older profiles, Singapore in more recent coverage where it is described as an unconsolidated InMobi Group subsidiary

Key Milestones and Challenges

No startup grows in a straight line. Early years usually involve slow adoption, product rewrites, hiring mistakes and funding gaps. In the Lock-screen content and commerce sector the common turning points are a first paying customer, a regulatory approval, a successful product demonstration or a funding round that lets the team invest ahead of demand. How a team responds to setbacks says more about resilience than any single headline.

• September 2019: raised $45 million from Mithril Capital
• November 2019: acquired Roposo
• December 2020: raised $145 million from Google and Mithril, becoming a unicorn
• June 2021: acquired Shop101
• February 2022: $200 million round led by Jio Platforms
• March 2022: acquired Gambit
• June 2022: launched Glance LIVE Fest
• FY24: revenue crossed Rs 600 crore and loss narrowed for the first time

Glance Funding and Investors

Funding history shows how much outside confidence a company has attracted and how long it can operate before needing more capital. Figures below are reported and may differ between sources; valuation figures are estimates unless the company has confirmed them.

• September 2019: $45 million, Mithril Capital
• December 2020: $145 million, Google and Mithril Capital
• February 2022: $200 million, led by Jio Platforms

How Does Glance Make Money? (Business Model)

A business model describes who pays, how often and how much it costs to serve them. Strong models show repeat usage, improving margins with scale and acquisition channels that do not depend only on paid spend. Weak models show one-off sales, rising costs and growth that stops when spending stops. For companies selling to businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers, sales cycles and contract size matter as much as headline growth.

• Advertising on lock screens: Rs 336 crore, 54.7% of FY24 revenue
• Commerce or shoppertainment: about Rs 254 crore in FY24
• Content and live events used to drive engagement

The Numbers: Glance Financials

Financial figures show whether growth is turning into a self-sustaining business. Small and private companies often disclose little, so any number below is included only if it was found in public reporting.

• FY22 revenue: Rs 178 crore
• FY23 revenue: Rs 325 crore; loss about Rs 1,067 crore to Rs 1,094 crore (reports differ)
• FY24 revenue from operations: Rs 614 crore; total income Rs 640 crore
• FY24 loss: Rs 929 crore; total expenses Rs 1,569 crore
• FY25 figures: not found in reliable sources

Market Opportunity for Glance

Market size is easy to exaggerate, so a useful approach separates the total market from the portion a company can realistically reach with its current product and distribution. The main forces behind demand in this sector are rising digital adoption, cloud and mobile penetration, growing enterprise technology spending, government digitisation programmes and a deep pool of engineering talent. Each of these widens the opportunity, but capital efficiency and execution decide who captures it.

• Competes for smartphone attention and ad budgets in India and other markets
• Depends on handset makers pre-installing the lock-screen product

Technology and Product at Glance

Technology is rarely the whole moat, but it drives speed, cost and customer experience. A practical way to assess it is to separate the capability the company controls from the commodity infrastructure it rents. In this sector the important factors are product quality, data and integration depth, security, scalability and the speed of shipping improvements.

• Lock-screen content platform with personalisation
• Integrated short video through Roposo and shopping features

Team and Culture at Glance

Teams are the most important and least measurable asset of a young company. Look at how complementary the founders’ skills are, how deep the second layer of leadership is, and how the company hires and retains specialists. Culture shows up in small repeated behaviours: how quickly bad news travels upward and whether commitments to customers are kept.

• Naveen Tewari is CEO
• Founders came from the InMobi group
• About 1,000 employees according to an unsourced figure

Glance Competitors: Competitive Landscape

A fair competitive analysis names direct rivals, adjacent players who could move into the space, and the customer’s default alternative. Durable advantages include proprietary data or technology, licences and approvals, brand trust, switching costs and cost leadership.

Risks and Challenges for Glance

• Large and continuing losses relative to revenue
• Reliance on device partnerships and advertising
• Mixed reporting on its structure and headquarters
• Competition: low barriers to entry and well-funded rivals can compress pricing and slow growth.
• Funding risk: technology businesses often burn cash before reaching profit and depend on investor appetite.

Risk is not a reason to avoid a company; it is a reason to price it correctly and to monitor the right indicators over time. Regulation in this sector is shaped by data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules.

Glance Growth Outlook: What to Watch

• Loss narrowed 15% in FY24 as revenue grew 89%
• Verified FY25 results were not found
• Key indicators: recurring revenue, customer retention, gross margin, customer acquisition cost and runway.
• Funding position: Whether Glance can reach its next milestone before needing new capital.
• Regulation: Changes from data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules.

Industry Context: Where Glance Fits

India's technology startup ecosystem is one of the largest in the world, supported by cheap data, a large base of smartphone users, digital public infrastructure and a deep engineering talent pool. Companies now build for education, software, mobility, logistics, agriculture, defence, media and more, selling both to Indian customers and abroad.

Durable technology companies usually combine a clear customer problem with repeatable distribution and disciplined unit economics. Growth funded only by spending tends to fade, while products that customers keep using and paying for build compounding advantages.

For readers new to this field, a useful habit is to separate announcements from evidence. A plan, a partnership or a funding headline describes intent, while a delivered product, a paying customer or an audited financial statement describes results. Comparing the two over time shows how reliably a company turns promises into outcomes.

Bull Case and Bear Case for Glance

An investment thesis is a short, testable statement of why a company could become far more valuable, together with what evidence would prove it wrong. The points below are general to this sector and are not forecasts for Glance.

Bull case

• A large and growing base of digital users and businesses expands the addressable market.
• Recurring revenue and strong retention can compound growth.
• Selling into global markets widens the opportunity beyond India.

Bear case

• Heavy competition can compress pricing and margins.
• Dependence on external funding can force painful cost cuts.
• Regulation or platform changes can disrupt a product quickly.

Lessons Founders and Investors Can Take from Glance

Studying a company in the Lock-screen content and commerce space offers lessons that go beyond any single firm. The points below are general lessons for the sector and are not claims about Glance.

• Solving a clear, frequent customer problem matters more than adding features.
• Retention and repeat usage are better health signals than sign-ups.
• Disciplined spending extends runway and keeps options open when funding tightens.
• Distribution, not just product quality, decides who wins in crowded markets.
• Building trust through data protection and reliability is part of the product.

How to Evaluate Glance as a Startup

• Customer clarity: Can Glance name its customer and the problem it solves in one sentence?
• Evidence of demand: Look for repeat customers, signed contracts or measurable usage rather than announcements alone.
• Economics: Check whether margins improve as volume grows.
• Execution: Compare announced timelines with what has actually been delivered.
• Funding runway: Estimate how long current capital lasts at the present spending rate.
• Regulatory standing: Confirm required approvals are in place.
• Customer concentration: Check whether a few customers account for most of the revenue.
• Management depth: Look for experienced leaders beyond the founders and a stable core team.

The Takeaway

Glance is part of India’s growing Lock-screen content and commerce ecosystem. The useful lesson from studying it is the discipline of asking structured questions about customers, economics, advantage and resilience. Companies that answer them well, repeatedly and under pressure are the ones that endure. Readers should treat any single report, ranking or funding headline as one input among many, and should re-check key facts against recent company announcements. Because public information on young companies is often limited, patience in verifying claims is part of good analysis. Public sources can also describe the same company in different ways, so it is worth checking dates, definitions and whether a figure refers to revenue, total income or transaction value, and whether it covers one entity or a wider group, before drawing conclusions. Small differences in rounding, currency conversion or reporting periods can also change how a figure reads. Comparing the same figure across several recent reports helps show whether it is stable or has changed over time. This article is educational and is not investment advice.

• Clear customers and repeat demand matter more than announcements.
• Regulation and capital needs shape how fast a startup in this sector can grow.
• Track a few leading indicators over time rather than one headline metric.

Glance FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

What is Glance?

Glance is a consumer technology company, an InMobi Group venture, that serves content and shoppable experiences on smartphone lock screens; reports differ on whether its base is Bengaluru, India or Singapore. It is profiled in the Startup Deep Dive series, which explains business model, funding, competitors and risks.

Who founded Glance?

Glance was founded by Naveen Tewari, Abhay Singhal, Mohit Saxena, Piyush Shah, and the company reports a founding year of 2019.

How much funding has Glance raised?

Reports differ: about $367.9 million to $390 million. Funding figures are reported and may differ between sources, so readers should check the latest company announcements.

How does Glance make money?

Glance earns revenue from its Lock-screen content and commerce products and services sold to businesses, institutions, consumers, learners and public-sector buyers. The exact revenue mix is described in the business model section and is not fully disclosed publicly.

Who are the competitors of Glance?

Reported rivals include Crossing Minds, Buzzvil. See the competitor comparison above for how they differ.

What are the main risks for Glance?

Main risks include competition: low barriers to entry and well-funded rivals can compress pricing and slow growth, funding and capital needs, competition and regulation by data protection rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, sector regulators, consumer protection law and IT rules. This is educational content, not investment advice.

Related Startup Deep Dives: Scrapuncle — Raised Rs 22 crore pre-Series A in January 2026; FY25 revenue Rs 15.5 crore, up 126% | Kreditbazar — short profile of what is publicly known. Browse the full Startup Deep Dive series.

Source

Source: Publicly available data, published reports, industry research, and other credible sources.