Bertelsmann leads $40m round for Indian internet services firm

Wiom, an internet infrastructure platform based in Delhi, has secured US$40 million in a growth equity round led by Bertelsmann India Investments and Accel.

Other participants in the funding round include Prosus, Promaft Partners, and existing investor RTP Global.

The funding will support product development, tech and operations hiring, and scaling distribution in underserved towns and districts

According to founder Satyam Darmora, 90% of the funding raised comes from primary investment.

Founded as i2e1 in 2015 and rebranded as Wiom in 2021, the firm is India’s largest licensed Public Data Office Aggregator (PDOA) under the government’s PM-WANI scheme to expand public Wi-Fi access.

Wiom’s platform enables individuals and small Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to redistribute home broadband in small, pay-as-you-go internet packs starting at 5 rupees (US$0,058).

With one million monthly users and partnerships with 100 local ISPs, Wiom plans to double its user base yearly and innovate under its “Tech for Future” program.

🔗 Source: YourStory

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ India’s digital divide remains massive despite rapid growth

Wiom’s funding highlights the persistent connectivity gap in India’s digital landscape that entrepreneurs are working to solve.

As of 2019, only about 40% of India’s population had internet access despite being one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing digital markets with over 560 million internet subscribers 1.

This aligns with Wiom’s claim that just 10% of India’s 200 million households have access to affordable unlimited internet, representing a massive untapped market of potential first-time broadband users.

The investment signals continued belief in the massive opportunity created by this gap, especially since mobile data consumption per user in India has been growing at 152% annually, far outpacing rates in the United States and China 1.

Rural areas remain particularly underserved, creating the exact environment where alternative models like Wiom’s internet redistribution approach can gain traction by working with the approximately 100 small regional ISPs mentioned in the article.