Consumer internet company Glance invests in Collective Artists Network

This collaboration will give Glance strategic access to India's top creators and celebrities, while providing disruptive and sustainable monetisation opportunities for country's entertainment talent

In order to further bolster its presence in the creator-driven live entertainment and commerce segment, Glance, the consumer internet company from tech unicorn InMobi, on Monday announced that it has made an investment in Collective Artists Network, a leading Indian talent management network and pop culture marketplace. The details of the deals were not disclosed.

This collaboration is expected to give Glance strategic access to India’s top creators and celebrities, while providing disruptive and sustainable monetisation opportunities for the country’s entertainment talent. Glance is already in advanced talks for partnerships with some of these celebrities and creators as a result of this investment. These partnerships are expected to help power live content on Glance lock screen, and drive entertainment-led commerce on Roposo.

In July this year, the two companies had together launched Glance Collective, a jpint venture company that co-creates consumer brands with multiple celebrities and creators.

“Creator-led live content and commerce is the future of entertainment and e-commerce, and we intend to be at the forefront of this evolution. This strategic investment in Collective Artists Network is a step in that direction, and allows us to forge meaningful, long-term synergies within the creator eco-system," said Piyush Shah, co-founder, InMobi Group, and president & COO of Glance.

He further said, "Our vision is to enable creators to go from being just entertainers to ‘creator-preneurs’; be it through live entertainment content, or through a variety of lucrative avenues for commerce, on both Glance and Roposo."

Glance has over 150 million active users in India, and an estimated 25 million in Southeast Asia.  It recently also launched Glance LIVE, a streaming service for 24/7, real time content on lock screen. Roposo, on the other hand, is India’s first entertainment-led shopping platform, with over 30 million active users.

The Collective has grown to become a leading marketplace in India for popular culture, as well as one of its biggest, multifaceted talent management powerhouses and pop-culture brand advisories. Within India, it manages the largest roster of celebrities and houses more than 8500 influencers and creators via its platform Big Bang Social, including top actors and pop culture icons.

With the scale, technology and monetisation capabilities of Glance and Roposo, and Collective’s access to some of India’s leading talent across Cinema, OTT, television, music, sports, digital and regional industries, the two companies are now well-positioned to power India’s creator economy, said the company in a statement.

"With the worlds of content and commerce merging, celebrities and creators are increasingly looking at newer avenues of growth and want to partner with platforms that not only have scale, but also provide great economic opportunities.  This is an innovative partnership in our business and with Glance’s scale and our large network this will provide a significant opportunity for the creator ecosystem,” said Vijay Subramaniam, Group CEO and Founder of Collective Artists Network.

This partnership is an example of how Glance is powering entrepreneurship in the creator economy by enabling creators to co-own brands, instead of just endorsing them.