Indus OS raises $4 million from existing investors

CHENNAI: Indus OS, India’s home-grown smartphone operating system and native applications platform, announced a pre-Series B round of $4 million from existing investors Omidyar Network, Ventureast and JSW Ventures.
This latest round takes Indus OS’s total funding to $13 million. It 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.”
Launched in 2015, Indus OS now commands a user base of 10 million across its smartphone brand partners such as Micromax, Intex, Karbonn, Celkon, and Swipe. Indus OS has received Series A funding from Omidyar Network, VenturEast and JSW Ventures. It 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.
After recently setting up an office in China, Indus OS recently announced its first international brand partnership in November with itel Mobile. Indus OS now aims to acquire 100 million users in the next three 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, an integration of internet services within the OS platform.