ValueFirst acquires VC-backed mobile advertising firm mGinger

Digital media firm ValueFirst Messaging Pvt Ltd has made foray into mobile advertising space by acquiring Bangalore-based mGinger, run by Gingersoft Media Pvt Ltd, in an all-cash deal. However, the company did not disclose the amount.

This is ValueFirst’s third acquisition in 2012 after it had snapped up way2online (which owns and operates both way2sms and 160by2, more about it here) and Indyarocks.

The acquisition will give ValueFirst another four million opted-in registered users in addition to the 50 million opted-in subscribers it already has across various other assets, according to a company statement. The company would also leverage mGinger’s strong brand name and relationship with agencies, the statement further added.

Ginger Media raised $2 million from IndoUS Venture Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson in 2007.

Launched in 2003, ValueFirst is backed by NEA and Headland Asian Ventures, and it has been pushing its inorganic growth strategy for some time now. It acquired mobile VAS firm Cellnext Solutions in October 2009 in an all-cash deal and went on to bag Noida-based Packet Shaper, a telecom software and product development firm. The company also acquired a majority stake in the social media firm Tagg.in in April 2010 for an undisclosed sum.

Commenting on the acquisition, ValueFirst MD Vish Bajaj said, “mGinger was pioneer in permission-based marketing and ended up building a huge profiled base of consumers for niche targeting. ValueFirst has big plans for the business where we want to extend the permission-based approach to markets beyond SMS – to various platforms like the Internet, voice and e-mail. In the recent months, mGinger had pivoted to promoting deals. We are evaluating what to do with the deals part of the business and will currently focus on scaling its media business.”

On the benefits that ValueFirst would obtain from this acquisition, he added, “ValueFirst has a great scalable technology platform and huge sales infrastructure with over 4,000 clients. We plan to leverage the mGinger brand name, profiled user base and niche targeting technology to offer innovative and scalable solutions to clients and media agencies.”

In an earlier chat with Techcircle.in, Kumar Apoorv, CEO of ValueFirst, said that the current focus “is to grow to over Rs 250 crore in revenue in this year.” He also added that the company would ideally look at a window of 18-24 months before an IPO.