Alibaba’s UCWeb launches $20m India accelerator
UCWeb, a mobile browsing services company controlled by China's Alibaba Group, has launched a $20 million program to promote Indian start-ups focusing on games and apps.
The initiative known as InDev aims to help more than 100 small developers over the next two years by leveraging the distribution channels, analytics capacity and branding exposure of UCWeb's Asia-focused app marketplace 9Apps. AVCJ understands that no stake investments will be made, but 9Apps will offer promotional support at no cost, revenue sharing and consultancy services in testing and localization processes.
"Our market insights show that India without doubt is poised to be the next big destination for developers as Indian users have 32 apps on an average, lower than the world average of 42 apps," Ebrahim Popat, country manager for 9Apps in India, said in a statement. "There is still room to grow."
9Apps estimates that only 26% of mobile users in India have Hindi language apps and that customers continue to download via 2G networks, preferring offline playback versus online streaming due to sporadic internet connectivity. Games account for 17% of all daily app downloads.
UCWeb's share of the India mobile browsing market eclipsed 51% last year; it is the company's largest overseas market. UCWeb also has offices in China, Vietnam, Russia and Indonesia, serving users globally in more than 150 countries and regions. It was valued at $3.8 billion when Alibaba bought all of its remaining shares in mid-2014.
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