InMobi features in MIT's list of 50 disruptive companies, joins the likes of Google & Apple

Bangalore-based mobile advertising network InMobi has joined the likes of Microsoft, Apple, Google, Samsung, Facebook, Amazon, etc., to secure a place in the MIT Technology Review's list of 50 Disruptive Companies for 2013.

According to an MIT statement, InMobi has been challenging Google and Apple in the mobile ads market to secure a spot in the list. InMobi is the only Indian company to have made it to this year's list.

"Since we entered the industry five years ago, we have continued to positively disrupt the mobile marketing industry," said Naveen Tewari, co-founder and CEO of InMobi. "This honour validates that we are disrupting the space of mobile advertisement. I think, over the next 10 years, the cumulative spend on mobile advertisement globally would be about $500 billion and we want to be part of this growth," he added.

MIT Technology Review magazine looked for companies who have demonstrated original and valuable technology over the past year and brought technology to market at significant scale, influencing their competitors. Over the past 12 months, these companies have taken risks in their respective tech fields, to unsettle an existing marketplace or create a new market entirely, a Press statement said.

"The pace at which technology is changing is astounding. This issue celebrates organisations at the forefront of radical change, displaying 'disruptive innovation' that would prove to surpass competition, transform an industry and change our lives," said Jason Pontin, publisher and editor-in-chief of MIT Technology Review.

Set up in 2007, InMobi employs 800 people and has raised around $215.5 million till date. It caters to advertisers, publishers and developers globally, and is backed by investors including SoftBank, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) and Sherpalo Ventures. The company has customers in 165 countries and about a billion unique users receive advertisements from the firm on a monthly basis. In 2011, it had struck the largest deal (till date) in the mobile internet space in India with $200 million commitment from Japan's Softbank Corp. InMobi has offices in India, the UK and the US, as well as in other global locations, and it has recently expanded its footprint in rest of Asia, Europe and Australia.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)