InMobi acquires US-based MMTG Labs; Appoints Shrikant Latkar as VP, global marketing

Bangalore and San Francisco-based mobile ad network InMobi has acquired MMTG Labs, Inc., a US-based startup. Although the financials of the deal are not available yet, MMTG co-founders Nalin Mittal and Ryan Merket, as well as their team, will join InMobi as part of the deal, according to TechCrunch.

MMTG Labs was set up in 2010 and currently has two flagship products. One is AppBistro, an application marketplace for Facebook pages and places, and the other is AppGalleries, which enables developers to distribute their apps among users. Post-acquisition, the AppGalleries technology will be added to InMobi's suite of products.

For InMobi, this is not the first acquisition of a US company. Last August, it had acquired US-based ad software developer Sprout, although the deal size and other relevant details were not available.

InMobi caters to advertisers, publishers and developers globally, and is backed by investors including SoftBank, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures. Last year, it had struck the largest deal (till date) in the mobile Internet space in India with $200 million commitment from Japan's Softbank Corp. The company has offices in India, the UK and the US, as well as in other global locations, and it has recently expanded its footprint in Asia, Europe and Australia.

In another development, InMobi has appointed Shrikant Latkar as vice-president, global marketing. He will be based at the company's San Francisco office and lead all aspects of marketing besides aligning InMobi's marketing strategy and brand positioning.

Prior to joining InMobi, Latkar was working with the Aricent Group, a global innovation and technology services company, as VP (global marketing) "the same role he will take on in InMobi. Earlier, he had worked with companies like Juniper Networks, Avaya and Lucent Technologies.

Naveen Tewari, founder and CEO of InMobi, said, "Shrikant joins InMobi as we continue to expand globally. We are very focused on creating global synergies across our products and solutions, and his appointment will help us achieve this."

InMobi has already made a number of key hires this year. The company appointed Anita Swan as regional marketing director for the Asia Pacific and followed it up by bringing on board Sandeep Deshpande as the country general manager for India and Vishal Nongbet as business head of brands.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)