This article was published on June 27, 2012

Chinese mobile ad platform Adwo grabs $12m in series B funding, led by Translink and Japan’s Vangoo


Chinese mobile ad platform Adwo grabs $12m in series B funding, led by Translink and Japan’s Vangoo

Adwo, one of China’s most widespread mobile-based advertising platforms, has just announced it has closed $12 million in series B funding, led by Silicon Valley-based Translink Capital and Japan’s Vangoo Investment Partners.

The company says that the new investment will be used to expand its operations and, according to Technode, CEO Wang Xudong is specifically planning to open offices in Hong Kong and Japan, as the firm looks to expand its business outside of China.

Already, Adwo claims to display ads on more than 80 million smartphones and across more than 20,000 mobile apps in China, that reach has seen its most recent monthly revenues hit $1.57 million (RMB 10 million). The ambitious firm is aiming to log $15.7 million (RMB 100 million) in sales this year, and overseas growth will help diversify its income.

China’s smartphone market has grown significantly in recent times and has overtaken the US, both on the volume of shipments and number of new device activations. Android continues to rank as the most popular platform (55 percent), according to recent stats, with Nokia’s dwindling Symbian platform and iOS following.

That growth has made the Chinese market an attractive one for many, and India-based player InMobi recently declared its intention to ramp up and compete more aggressively in the country.

The firm, which competes with Google-owned AdMob, is aiming to be China’s biggest player by the end of the year.

China has more than 1 billion mobile phone owners but data from analytics firm Flurry suggests that just 230 million of those own smartphones and, futhermore, only 109 million have downloaded apps. A ‘revolution’ in affordable phones is underway, and analysts at Canalysys expect 40 percent of smartphones there to be sub-$200 devices.

Adwo previously raised $1 million in series A funding last year.

Image via Flickr / Tauno Tõhk

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