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Affle secures Rs 500 mn funding from D2 Communications
MUMBAI: Mobile media startup, Affle, has secured over Rs 500 million in its second round of funding from D2 Communications Inc, a JV between Japanese telco NTT DoCoMo Inc. and ad agency Dentsu.
The deal is an all-cash investment for a minority stake in Affle Holdings Pte, through acquisition of both newly issued and transferred existing shares in the startup.
The funds are expected to be used for expansion in Asia, specifically in India.
In February, the two companies had entered into strategic alliance, backed with a ‘token investment‘ from D2C. This is a follow-up investment.
Till date, Affle has raised a total of $20 million in funding and is supported by Microsoft Global Finance, Itochu Corporation, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (BCCL) and Centurion Private Equity.
India is one of the most important markets for Affle, where it has aggressively grown its sales teams and worked with Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices, who promote and market Affle‘s apps to mobile subscribers.
The Singapore-headquartered company, which has three offices in India — Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bangalore has worked with media agencies such as Group M, OMD, Mudra, MediaCom and Madison Communications.
Nokia, Maruti Suzuki, Pepsi, BPCL, Godrej, Samsung and ESS are some of Affle‘s clients in India.
D2 Communications CEO Takayuki Hoshuyama said that developing Asian markets have huge untapped potential for mobile advertising. “We are confident that our experience from Japan would help Affle become the dominant mobile advertising player in these mobile-first markets.”
Affle Group of Companies chairman Anuj Khanna Sohum added, “With our greater strategic association we plan to significantly further Affle‘s product portfolio and traction to deliver greater value to our users and mobile media partners globally.”
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
