InMobi partners with Chinese gaming company ​CocoaChina

BANGALORE: Mobile advertising network InMobi is partnering with CocoaChina, owned by mobile game publisher Chukong Technologies, in a deal expected to create new streams of revenue for the Chinese gaming company. The partnership brings gaming franchise ‘ Fishing Joy’ owned by CocoaChina, into InMobi’s advertising network.

“We aim to attract more developers to our platform as a result of this partnership,” said Li Jian, director of inventory at CocoaChina, who expects the partnership will help better monetise his company’s user base of over 100 million game consumers.

For Bangalore-based InMobi, this is the third global partnership to be firmed up in the last one month. Japan’s instant messaging network Line Corporation is partnering with InMobi to promote its virtual currency to global app developers. Korea’s Kakao Games is also working with InMobi to enable mobile game businesses increase revenue. InMobi, which raised $200 million in 2011 from Japan’s SoftBank Corp, has emerged as a challenger to Google’s Ad-Mob and Apple in the global market for mobile advertisements.

“We were earlier focused on publishers and large developers. Now, with this partnership, we are looking at (gaming) platforms as well,” said Jayesh Easwaramony, vice-president for business development at InMobi.

With nearly 415-million smartphone users in China and a mobile advertisement market growing at 150% year-onyear, China is an exciting mobile internet market.

“The partnership will aid developers as they approach the Chinese market while aiding CocoaChina to increase its global footprint in the West,” said Easwaramony. The InMobi network in China has witnessed an 84% increase in the number of ad impressions across mobile devices and tablets from September 2012 to September 2013. For the same period, in-app advertising also grew by 86%.