Nimbuzz sets sight on public Wi-Fi domain in India

Nimbuzz was started in late 2006 in The Netherlands as a mobile VoIP product

With the state governments looking for speedy roll out of Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) services at public places, Gurgaon-based instant messaging platform Nimbuzz is planning to aggressively tap into this high-potential area, according to its chief executive officer Vikas Saxena.

“We expect to further our lead in the public Wi-Fi domain of the country. Some of the new products coming out of Nimbuzz stable will help pioneer mass adoption of Wi-Fi in India. Severe spectrum crunch in India for data services will lead to public Wi-Fi, taking our much of the load at the last mile level,” he told Business Standard.

Nimbuzz was started in late 2006 in the Netherlands as a mobile VoIP (voice-over Internet protocol) product to circumvent high calling rates between Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and India. It got its first round of funding of $10 million in 2007. The company today has over 200 million users across 210 countries. It processes over one billion VoIP call minutes and over 100 billion messages per month.

UK-based NewCall Telecom has picked up 70 per cent in Nimbuzz for about $175 million (approximately Rs 1,090 crore) in late 2014. The company has a current run rate revenue of $15 million per year.

“With the recent acquisition of Nimbuzz by NewCall, we expect to further strengthen our position in the mobile advertising network industry,” Saxena said.

Nimbuzz recently launched Masque, a free-for-registration anonymous mobile application that helps users connect with multiple strangers and chat with them. The ‘anonymous dating’ app, which has seen close to 50,000 downloads on Google Play Store, allows to share selfies and audio notes without fear for, they will self-destruct after they are viewed once.

According to Saxena, Masque was a product of Nimbuzz’s goal of creating need-based apps. Nimbuzz understands that today's evolved and technology-savvy youth in Asia has an inherent need to not only connect with new people but do so through newer ways of connecting, he said.

“I think anonymity is much safer than revealing your details up front. In Masque, you have a chance to reveal your identity later, once you have found out more about the other person,” he said, adding that the company was expecting huge traction for the dating app from India.