India-based Korean startup Balance Hero has netted 5 billion won (USD $4.36 million) in additional investment from The Industrial Bank of Korea for its mobile balance service True Balance.
It’s been two years since the company launched the app, which lets smartphone users in India check the balance of their prepaid accounts quickly rather having to manually call their provider. Since then, True Balance has racked up 40 million downloads, with plans to reach 100,000 in the coming year.
The latest investment brings Balance Hero’s Series-B funding to 15 billion won (USD $13 million), and a total of 19 billion won (USD $16.5 million) in venture capital since the company was founded in 2014. With a Series A round of 3 billion won from Softbank Ventures Korea in March last year, Balance Hero is one of the few Korean startups with such a short period of time between A and B rounds.
Users across seven regions and 41 different phone companies in India currently use True Balance to easily check data and phone balance, and credit can also be recharged from directly within the app. The service supports phones with dual sims, which are relatively popular in the country and often used to take advantage of deals from different providers.
95% of smartphone users in India use prepaid phones, meaning there is still plenty of room for growth. India is estimated to have over 300 million smartphone users and is well on the way to becoming the world’s second biggest smartphone market.
True Balance saw rapid growth in the second half of last year when the number of downloads tripled. Features such as recommendations for the best deals based on personal phone use, and rewards for inviting friends have made the app a popular choice over competitors
The app’s revenue model began last November through advertising and recharging, and while Balance Hero has only been focused on developing True Balance up until now, it says that it plans to expand into the mobile payment market soon.
“By attracting another Series B investment, we are able to strengthen our business and keep up with the rapid growth of India’s mobile market,” said Charlie Lee, CEO of Balance Hero. “We aim to become a major player in the mobile payment market by reaching 100,000 downloads and launching a mobile payment service within the year.”
