To signify its growing focus in the Indian online advertising networks, global Internet major Yahoo! today announced an over 35 per cent investment in Gurgaon-based, Tyroo Media Pvt. Ltd -- a part of Smile Interactive Technologies Group (Smile Group). The deal size was not disclosed.The move is a part of Yahoo's strategy to invest aggresively in the technology and sales network for small- and medium-sized advertisers and publishers in India. George Zacharias, Managing Director, Yahoo! India, said: "Through this investment, Yahoo! will act as a catalyst for the entire ad-network industry in India which is still in a nascent stage." The investment gives Yahoo Inc a representation on the Tyroo board."The global knowledge and experience that Yahoo! brings will help us scale our business. The funding raised will be used to further enhance our ad-serving technology, build a world-class team, and gain market share through reaching out to hitherto untapped advertisers and publishers in India." said Harish Bahl, CEO, Smile Group.The Yahoo! initiative is expected to help Tyroo to create a platform for scalable growth through Yahoo!'s knowledge of the Internet advertising business. Tyroo plans to set up up sales offices across the country and triple its team size by the end of this year. Tyroo currently has over 1,200 registered publishers across the country.
