APUS set up APUS Fund in India with Rs 3 billion investment

NEW DELHI: China based firm APUS Group has announced the foundation of APUS Fund in India with Rs 3 billion (Rs 300 crore) investment and focus on mobile Internet innovation projects in Indian market.

It will be led by APUS Group and comprises Northern Light Venture Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Chengwei Ventures LLC, SIG Global, Qiming Venture Partners.

“ We would like to express our gratitude for the support from the five investing firms and hope to build a positive ecosystem for mobile Internet industry in India through investments in start-ups,” said Tao Li, initiator of APUS Fund, founder and CEO of APUS Group.

Indian mobile internet enters outbreak period

It was known that the outbreak period of Chinese mobile Internet industry was from 2010 to 2014 and the high-speed development from 2011 to 2013. However, in India, it would be later for 2 to 5 years. Therefore, It is predicted that the outbreak period will be from 2015 to 2018 and high-speed development from 2016 to 2017.

In terms of user number, by the end of 2014, there were 300 million Internet users and 242 million of them were active ones. Among them, 160 million users surfed Internet through smartphones, making the 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%. At the same time in China, Internet user will be 638 million and Internet penetration will be 48.4%.

In the meanwhile, India will be the second country that has 800 million smartphone users, with 150 million increase in 2015, 250 million in 2016, and 300 million in 2017.

China and India both enjoy great demographic dividend. And similar to China, the rapid development of India will rely on the demographic dividend. However, compared with China, young people account for a large number in India. Youth under 34 years old account for 68% in population while 18 to 34 year-old account for 34%. APUS Group has 30 million users in India and 80 percent of them are from 18 to 34 years old.

Last but not least, in the light of infrastructure, smartphone is getting increasingly popular in India, especially mobile phones who worth around 1000 RMB now but 5000 3 years before. The construction of 3G network has been completed and Indian government is trying to push the WIFI and 4G construction. In the future, access to Internet will cost less and the infrastructures will boost the development of mobile Internet in India.

APUS fund will promotes Indian mobile internet development

In recent years, GDP in India increase by 7.5% and people are having more disposable income. E-commerce, payment, and network advertisement alliance account for the majority in Indian Internet market. Users have consumption capability but there are not enough traffic resources. Therefore, there is a great potential for traffic products.

At the same time, the demographic dividend in India has produced a large number of local products and technical personnel. Even in initial stage, there have been some mature and potential start-ups founded in Indian mobile Internet market. APUS plans to support these companies with financial support, user resource, traffic support, marketing promotion and brand building along with financial aid. It will also assist in enhancing market value, seizing development opportunities, and develop localized products and services.

It is reported that APUS has invested in IamWire who focus on venture capital investment and established strategic partnership with many incubators in India. Through regular discussion and project introduction, this will access APUS Fund to potential Indian projects. At the same time, APUS has netted more than 30 million users in India and set up local team for business promotion, strategic cooperation and R&D, which means influential brand and traffic resources. These will help APUS Fund to find, analyze and invest potential projects and make sure the rapid development.

Besides in India, APUS Fund can also provide support for Indian start-up companies who wish to enter Chinese market through its APUS Global Mobile Internet Incubator in Beijing. APUS will provide one-stop services including registration, office, accommodation, administration, human resource, legal support, etc. to help Indian companies understand and adapt to Chinese market.

In the tide of the new technical revolution and global mobile Internet, APUS Fund enters Indian market with 3 billion rupee. This is the first time that Chinese Internet company enter Indian Venture capital market and devote to the mature ecosystem and business environment for Indian start-ups.