Ozone Media to expand presence beyond India; ropes in Sanjay Anandaram as advisor

The ad network plans to launch its operations in both mature and emerging digital markets

Bangalore-based online ad network company, Ozone Media is planning to expand its operations beyond India. The company is evaluating various countries across mature and emerging digital markets, reveals Kiran Gopinath, founder and chief executive officer, Ozone Media, during a conversation with afaqs!.

"We have plans to launch our operations in markets like the US, the UK, Singapore and the Middle East countries," he says. Apart from geographical expansion, the ad network firm is also gearing up to offer its service on the mobile platform. "We have plans to offer ad solutions related to mobile internet as well," says Gopinath.

The company has roped in Sanjay Anandaram, co-founder and managing director of the venture capital firm, JumpstartUp Venture Fund, as strategic advisor. Anandaram also owns a small stake in Ozone Media.

Gopinath says, "Anandaram will now actively participate in the strategic decisions of the company, and will guide and mentor the ad network to grow and scale up its operations."

Anandaram is an alumnus of IIM Bangalore. He has more than 20 years of work experience across sales, investing and mentoring start-ups. In 1987, he joined Wipro and worked in its sales and business development team for more than nine years. During his tenure with Wipro, he was involved in the business development function for various markets, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Middle East, Africa and the US.

In 2000, he co-founded JumpstartUp, which is mainly focused on investing in young technology firms. JumpstartUp is also an investor in a mobile media firm, July Systems, which has developed mobile portals for media companies such as NDTV and CNN IBN.

For the record, Ozone Media had appointed Yuzdi N Badhniwalla as vice-president, sales, marketing and alliances in July. Badhniwalla leads the ad sales teams of Ozone Media, which is spread across three regions -- Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi. He is also responsible for alliances or partnerships with non-publishing companies, and also handles the marketing and communications function of the ad network.