Chinese mobile internet company Apus Group has launched Apus Fund in India.
Led by Apus Group and also including Northern Light Venture Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Chengwei Ventures LLC, SIG Global and Qiming Venture Partners, the fund focuses on mobile Internet innovation projects in the Indian market.
The initial investment will be 3 billion rupees. Apus plans to support startups founded in the Indian mobile Internet market with financial support, user resource, traffic support, marketing promotion and brand building. Besides in India, Apus Fund can also provide support for Indian startup companies who wish to enter Chinese market through its APUS Global Mobile Internet Incubator in Beijing. It will provide services including registration, office, accommodation, administration, human resource, legal support, etc. to allow Indian companies to understand and adapt to the Chinese market.
Commenting on the launch, Mr. Tao Li, initiator of APUS Fund, founder and CEO of APUS Group, said: “As an emerging market, the Indian market’s potential is great and we would like to extend our assistance to the early stage start-ups. Being one of the crucial markets for us, the foundation of APUS Fund will accelerate the development of APUS Group and strengthen our relationship with the country.”
The Indian market
In terms of user number, by the end of 2014, in India there were 300 million Internet users with 242 million of them being active users. Among them, 160 million users surfed the Internet through smartphones, making Internet penetration 23.4%.
In the next 2 to 3 years, there will be another 100 million new Internet users and by 2017, the overall number will exceed 500 million, with an Internet penetration of nearly 40%.
India will be the second country with 800 million smartphone users, with a 150 million increase in 2015, 250 million in 2016, and 300 million in 2017.
Youth under 34 years old account for 68% in population while 18 to 34 year-olds account for 34%.
Finally, the construction of a 3G network has been completed and the Indian government is prioritizing WIFI and 4G construction.
FinSMEs
10/12/2015