Google invests in two local startups to drive forward India’s digitization

Google's investments in the local startups in line with the search giant's commitment to enabling affordable access and information for every Indian in their own language, be it Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi or any other local language. Back in July, the company announced the 'Google for India Digitization Fund' to invest Rs 75,000 crore (USD10 billion) into India over the next 5-7 years.

Google on Tuesday announced investments in two leading Indian startups- Glance InMobi and VerSe Innovation - to enable them to further scale and solve for the needs of the country's growing number of internet users and drive forward India's digitization journey.

Talking about the startups, Glance InMobi delivers visual, immersive and localized content experiences across products like Glance and video-sharing social media platform Roposo while VerSe Innovation serves vernacular content in 14 languages through platforms like the Dailyhunt and Josh apps.

"The pandemic has not only accelerated internet adoption, it has also expanded how people use the internet to get things done in their daily lives. All over the country, people are embracing new ways of doing things like virtual learning, making online payments and buying groceries online," Google wrote in a blog post.

"Data shows that rural consumption now accounts for roughly 45 percent of overall mobile data usage in the country, and is primarily focused on online video. But many of these internet users continue to have trouble finding content to read or services they can use confidently, in their own language."

Google's investments in the local startups in line with the search giant's commitment to enabling affordable access and information for every Indian in their own language, be it Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi or any other local language. Back in July, the company announced the 'Google for India Digitization Fund' to invest Rs 75,000 crore (USD10 billion) into India over the next 5-7 years.

Google says the latest investment will enable the startups to further scale the availability of relevant and engaging content in different formats across various Indic languages.

"These investments underline our strong belief in partnering deeply with India's innovative startups and our commitment to working towards the shared goal of building a truly inclusive digital economy that will benefit everyone," the search giant said.