The cofounders of adtech major InMobi have bought back around 25-30% stake from its early investor SoftBank, reducing the Japanese firm's holding to under 8% from about 35% earlier, as the startup prepares for its public listing.
Following the buyback, cofounders Naveen Tewari, Mohit Saxena, Abhay Singhal and Piyush Shah together hold around 60% stake in the unicorn, sources told Inc42.
InMobi raised $350 Mn debt from Varde Partners, Elham Credit Partners and SeaTown Holdings for the buyback. The loan is structured in two parts - $200 Mn for the main operating company and $150 Mn will for the holding entity. The loan is secured against the cofounders' stake in the startup.
SoftBank is estimated to have received roughly $250 Mn from the deal, slightly above the $200-220 Mn it invested in 2011, which gave InMobi the unicorn tag. SoftBank had reportedly written off its stake in InMobi in 2016.
Founded in 2007, InMobi provides marketing and monetisation solutions to brands, advertisers, and publishers. It also operates Glance and Roposo.
It has raised a total funding of over $400 Mn to date from investors like Sherpalo Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Structure Capital, among others. Most recently, it raised INR 32 Cr (about $3.7 Mn) from its cofounders and Singapore-based Vatera.
InMobi Bullish On GenAI-Native Ad Stack
The unicorn slipped into the red in FY24, posting a net loss of $76.9 Mn as against a net profit of $32.9 Mn in FY23. Its operating revenue fell 18% to $220 Mn in FY24. It is yet to file its financial statements for FY25.
Last month, cofounder Tewari told Inc42 that InMobi has an annual run rate (ARR) of about $300 Mn in FY26.
The revenue drop in FY24 was mainly due to a global slowdown in advertising spends, especially in the US and Europe, which make up a large share of InMobi's business, he said.
According to the cofounder, several major customers cut discretionary budgets, delayed campaigns or shifted to short-term performance marketing, which reduced predictable revenue.
He also pointed out that some parts of InMobi's portfolio were "carrying more weight than they should have", including products with lower margins, or were too dependent on market cycles.
However, Tewari said that calendar year 2025 was "phenomenal" for InMobi, as it marked a major transition towards building what he called a generative AI-native ad stack. Just as advertising once subsidised internet applications, it will now be needed to make AI applications widely accessible, he said, adding that this would be central to InMobi's future.
Glance, the company's AI-driven platform, is expected to soon contribute revenue on a scale comparable to InMobi's core business. Earlier this year, Glance launched its GenAI-powered shopping app in India, allowing users to model and purchase products using selfies.
Built on Gemini API, the app targets India's growing middle class and plans to expand globally, focusing on markets such as the US and Japan.
Notably, Glance is being treated as a separate entity, and its business will not be part of the company's planned IPO.