By Newley Purnell
SINGAPORE-- Twitter Inc. is acquiring India-based mobile
marketing startup ZipDial for an undisclosed sum in its first
acquisition in Asia, as it seeks to tap more offline users in
fast-growing emerging markets.
Countries like India, Indonesia and Brazil are key to Twitter as
it tries to attract new users and advertising dollars, analysts
say. Emerging markets are increasingly becoming an important part
of Twitter's growth strategy as it peaks in developed markets such
as the U.S. and the U.K. In the three months ended September,
Twitter reached 284 million monthly active users, about 77% of whom
were outside the U.S.
Bangalore-based ZipDial is known for its success at "missed
call" marketing, which allows consumers to dial a number for a
company and hang up before connecting. The company in turn sends
them free text messages containing advertisements and other
content, like sports scores, without users incurring a charge.
"This is an investment in emerging markets," Rishi Jaitly,
market director of Twitter India, told The Wall Street Journal in
an interview Tuesday. The deal "ensures we can reach every Indian
with a mobile device," he said.
Twitter's latest deal highlights growing international interest
in Indian startups, with the country's e-commerce industry
expanding quickly and low-cost smartphones proliferating. In
January last year, Facebook Inc. acquired Indian startup Little Eye
Labs, which analyses data to test smartphone apps, while e-commerce
startup Flipkart said in July it raised $1 billion in new funding
from overseas investors. Also that month, Amazon.com Inc. announced
it would invest $2 billion to expand its India operations. Japanese
telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp. has also unveiled
investment plans including in online marketplace Snapdeal.com and
Ola Cabs, a digital taxi-hailing service.
ZipDial's functionality could be also used in the future to
reach users in fast-growing markets like Indonesia and Brazil,
which have similarly youthful demographics and frugal users, Mr.
Jaitly said. Twitter has previously worked with ZipDial on
marketing campaigns in India.
Valerie Wagoner, founder and chief executive of ZipDial, said
the company has seen success in reaching Indian consumers who
aren't connected to the Internet. She noted that while smartphone
penetration has been rising in India, many users still cannot
afford data access, or use data connections sparingly.
"This gives Twitter access points everywhere," said Ms. Wagoner,
since users can simply dial a number for a Twitter account, place a
missed call, and then receive tweets on their devices.
ZipDial, which has 56 employees, was founded in 2010. All the
employees will stay on in Bangalore after the acquisition, she
said.
Ms. Wagoner, a Modesto, Calif. native, said the company's
campaigns have reached almost 60 million users, mostly in India.
The company has also operated in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the
Philippines. Among ZipDial's clients are Unilever PLC, Procter
& Gamble Co. and Walt Disney Co.
Yoree Koh in San Francisco and Jai Krishna in New Delhi
contributed to this article.
Write to Newley Purnell at newley.purnell @wsj.com
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