Singapore-based AnyMind enters India, UAE through Pokkt buy

Singapore-based AnyMind Group, a marketing, entertainment and human resources technology company, has bought mobile video advertising platform Pokkt for an undisclosed amount in a bid to expand into India and the United Arab Emirates.

Post deal, AnyMind operates across 13 markets with 17 offices globally.

Founded in 2012, Mumbai-headquartered Pokkt has a network of over 1,000 app publishers and over 200 advertising partners in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The in-app smartphone ad platform claims to clock over 500 million monthly active users. Separately, it also has built data and machine learning capabilities for audience targeting, a statement from AnyMind said on Wednesday.

The buyer said it will integrate Pokkt’s in-app advertising technology stack into its AdAsia Digital Platform, which currently allows marketers to activate, manage and track media buys across desktop and mobile web display and video advertising and digital-out-of-home.

“There is a strong and immediate synergy between both companies, including product and offering fit, geographies covered and management teams,” Kosuke Sogo, CEO and co-founder at AnyMind Group said.

Post deal, Pokkt’s co-founders Rohit Sharma and Vaibhav Odhekar have joined AnyMind’s management at AnyMind in different capacities. Sharma has been appointed as chief operating officer whereas Odhekar has been appointed as managing director of India and the Middle East for AnyMind Group. 

Pokkt is AnyMind Group’s fifth acquisition. The 65-people-strong business, which started out as AdAsia Holdings in April 2016, previously bought FourM and Grove in Japan, Moindy in Thailand, and Acqua Media in Hong Kong.

Founders of Maiden Marketing India, the parent operator of Pokkt, Sharma and Odhekar were also co-founders of an online toy store business Wopshop. It shut shop within a year in 2013. Sharma was previously a chief executive officer of Reliance Entertainment (Digital). 

Pokkt was part of five startups shortlisted for funding from the inaugural batch of GSF Accelerator, a part of the Global Super Angel Forum and founded by former Reliance Entertainment president Rajesh Sawhney.

In 2013, it had raised its seed funding of $500,000 from Singapore-based Jungle Ventures and former Indiagames COO Samir Bangara. In 2014, it secured $2.5 million in Series A funding from Singapore-based VC firms Jafco Asia, SingTel Innov8 and others. In 2015, it raised $5 million from Singapore-based venture capital firm Segnel Ventures, Shinji Kimura and others. Its other investors include serial venture capital investor K Ganesh and former Walt Disney executive Samir Bangara.

In 2016, Pokkt sold its reward-based Android app, Pocket Money, to Japanese mobile marketing company Adways Inc. for an undisclosed sum.