Naveen Tewari

Founder & CEO · InMobi

📍 India / Global

Naveen Tewari is the founder of InMobi, one of India's earliest global mobile-advertising technology companies.

Naveen Tewari Founder Story

Naveen Tewari started his entrepreneurial journey with mKhoj, an SMS-based local search idea. When the original model did not scale as expected, he and his team pivoted toward mobile advertising. The company was renamed InMobi and expanded rapidly across international markets. The willingness to change direction at a difficult stage became one of the most important decisions in the company's history. Tewari later expanded his entrepreneurial work into consumer internet products such as Glance. His story is a strong example of how a failed first model can become the foundation for a much larger technology company when founders listen to the market.

Naveen Tewari Education

Engineering degree from IIT Kanpur; MBA from Harvard Business School.

Career Before InMobi

Worked at McKinsey & Company and later in venture capital before founding his company.

How InMobi Started

The first concept was SMS-based local search. Weak demand led the team to identify a larger opportunity in mobile advertising.

Challenges & Failures

Low adoption of the original idea, limited early capital, finding talent for an emerging mobile-ad market and competing internationally.

Turning Point

The pivot from mKhoj to mobile advertising and the rebranding to InMobi changed the company's direction completely.

Naveen Tewari Achievements

Built InMobi into a major global ad-tech company and became associated with one of India's earliest unicorn success stories.

Future Plans

Continue building AI-driven advertising, commerce and consumer technology products.

Naveen Tewari's Advice for Entrepreneurs

Do not become emotionally attached to the first business model; follow evidence and adapt quickly.

“A strong founder is willing to change the model without losing sight of the larger opportunity.”

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Latest Updates From InMobi

17 Aug 2026

BUSINESS UPDATE

InMobi: Naveen Tewari's Technology journey and next growth focus

Founder profile update for Naveen Tewari of InMobi. Built InMobi into a major global ad-tech company and became associated with one of India's earliest unicorn success stories. The journey has involved Low adoption of the original idea, limited early capital, finding talent for an emerging mobile-ad market and competing internationally. A key turning point highlighted in the founder story is: The pivot from mKhoj to mobile advertising and the rebranding to InMobi changed the company's direction completely. Current strategic direction recorded in the profile: Continue building AI-driven advertising, commerce and consumer technology products. Founder lesson: Do not become emotionally attached to the first business model; follow evidence and adapt quickly.

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Connect With Naveen Tewari

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