Evernote to open office in India in January 2013 as Asian expansion continues (Update: No it isn’t)

**There’s been a pretty major development with this story after Evernote got in touch to say that, despite reports, it isn’t opening an office in the country. A company rep told us that the firm is instead looking to hire local marketing firm, explaining:

The news featured in the ToI article is an incorrect statement. India is an extremely important market to us, and therefore we are planning to engage a local company to assist us with market development based out of Noida.

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Internet firms are increasingly wising up to the potential of Asia, and few have done so like Evernote. The online note taking service is set to further expand its global presence with the launch of an office in India next month, which will be its third country launch in Asia within the space of a year, The Times of India reports

According to the newspaper, the company could open the Noida, New Delhi-based office to serve its 700,000 local users as early as January 1, as Evernote’s general manager for Asia Troy Malone explained to ToI:

“We are now ramping up the business and our reach. We see a lot of potential in India given that the number of knowledge workers, who use Evernote, is growing here. We are likely to formally open our India office on January 1.”

Evernote has had a busy year in Asia and its most recent activity in Asia saw it launch an office in Taiwan in August, while also celebrating a tie-in with the country’s top operator, Taiwan Mobile. That deal was notable as the company’s second-ever operator partnership — following an agreement with Orange in France in 2011 — and Malone explains that Evernote is exploring the possibility of partnering with operators and handset markers in India; establishing a local base will make such relationships easier to strike and manage.

There is also a need to service the company’s growing users base in India. The Times reports that Evernote is adding around 1,600 new registered users per day and — as CEO Phil Libin said when it opened its doors in Taiwan — it invests in offices in markets where it is seeing strong user traction, promising business opportunities and, in the case of Taiwan, an active developer community.

Evernote’s most significant move to date came in China in May when it launched Yinxiang Biji, its dedicated service for China. The service made a promising early start — with Malone telling TNW sign-ups were “off the chart” — and China quickly become the company’s fastest growing market later that month.

Elsewhere, Evernote has offices in Russia, Switzerland, the US and Japan, and also a small team on the ground in South Korea.

The company currently has more than 45 million users worldwide and it makes revenue by selling subscription services to users. Last week, it raised $85 million in primary and secondary financing, led by London-based AGC Equity Partners/m8 Capital with participation from Valiant Capital Partners and existing investors.

Related: Evernote Business launches in seven countries to bring collection, discovery and sharing to teams

Headline image via othree / Flickr