InMobi finds a mentor in Nilekani Photogallery

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Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is mentoring InMobi to recast investor perception about itself. The eight-year-old mobile advertising network wants to break away from the bloodletting advertising technology sector is currently witnessing. Investor fury has singed ad tech sector's listed stocks and roiled valuations of billion-dollar startups, people familiar with the matter said. (BCCL)

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Bengaluru-based InMobi, which is fending off takeover overtures from technology behemoths like Microsoft and Google, is working on a plan outlined by Nilekani, which blurs the line between mobile advertising and m-commerce, they added. IITian Naveen Tewari-founded company wants to marry Silicon Valley with Madison Avenue in its search for a new identity.

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InMobi hopes to deliver a new business positioning akin to what 'offshoring' and 'global delivery model' did to transform India's technology services companies and Infosys two decades ago. Nilekani has been visiting InMobi office and advising the top management over working lunches.

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This is crucial as Wall Street investors have dumped the ad tech sector after a slew of recently listed companies served up disastrous numbers, drowning their stocks to below-offer price. The investor fury with the ad tech space impacted InMobi's fund-raising plans at an asking valuation of $2.5 to $3 billion in the past one year.

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InMobi is one of the most heavily funded ad tech startups with a roaster of marquee investors such as SoftBank, Kleiner Perkins and Sherpalo Ventures, which together have a two-thirds ownership.

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Banking sources said Microsoft, which made a rebuffed acquisition offer two years ago, is likely to revive the interest as media reports surfaced earlier this week about Google's early discussions with InMobi for a buyout. Tewari, a marketing savvy entrepreneur, wrote a letter to InMobi's 900-odd staff stating his intention to stay independent and be a more disruptive force in the industry.

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The company's consumer story would be floated under a separate brand and a differentiated approach compared to its original B2B play. This is part of a carefully calibrated strategy to position InMobi as not just another solutions provider in mobile advertising, dominated by Google and Facebook.

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InMobi , which is fending off takeover overtures from Microsoft and Google, is working on a plan outlined by Nilekani, which blurs the line between mobile advertising and m-commerce. (BCCL)

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