<article><a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=true+balance" target="_blank">True Balance</a>, a mobile app that helps users check data and talk-time balance on prepaid connections, has raised Series A funding from Japanese investor <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Softbank" target="_blank">Softbank</a>.</article>

<a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=true+balance" target="_blank">True Balance</a>, a mobile app that helps users check data and talk-time balance on prepaid connections, has raised Series A funding from Japanese investor <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Softbank" target="_blank">Softbank</a>.
The investment was made by Softbank Ventures Korea, and led by director JP (Joonpyo) Lee. It was the sole investor in the round.
DEALSTREETASIA had <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/mobile-balance-checking-app-true-balance-in-advanced-talks-to-raise-upto-10m-27846/" target="_blank">reported in January</a> that True Balance, founded by Korean expat Charlie (Cheolwon) Lee, was in talks with investors in South Korea to raise $10 million. The amount raised is close to that figure, according to a source aware of the deal.
True Balance app fills a void in India, where prepaid users make up 96 per cent of the 900 million mobile connections, but getting information about remaining balance for mobile minutes, data, and days left is not a straightforward process. Users need to send messages to different numbers for each query. The answering message appears on the screen as a notification but is not saved in most smartphones, making it difficult for users to remember when they should pay for a recharge.
On top of that, many prepaid users have phones with two SIM cards, which makes the issue more complicated. “Prepaid consumers are always trying to figure out how much balance they have,” said Lee, who has been living in India for the past ten years, and founded the company in Gurgaon.
True Balance Android app allows users to check their leftover balance, and other information such as days left on the current pack, special offers from the telecom provider, and remaining data, all on a single mobile screen. It works with multiple mobile operators in India. In the first week of January, the app was installed 220,000 times on average per day, which put it among the top five downloads on Google Play. Since its launch, the app has had more than 2.5 million downloads.
&#8220;This funding will help us get to 10 million downloads by the end of the year. We will invest majority of the funds into marketing efforts, and in hiring more tech people in the team,&#8221; Lee said. The app worked only for customers in Delhi NCR when it was launched, but has since expanded to Mumbai, Karnataka and Haryana circles.
The new round will also help Lee offer the service in smaller towns and cities, where prepaid connections dominate. True Balance will also introduce online payment options so that recharges can be done without leaving the app. Future plans include introduction of a mobile wallet, a sector currently dominated by companies like <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Paytm" target="_blank">Paytm</a> and <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Mobikwik" target="_blank">Mobikwik</a>.
Before founding True Balance, Lee was president and CEO of Access Mobile, a Seoul, South Korea-based provider of value added mobile services, which had Vodafone and Idea, two of India’s top four mobile operators, as clients. Before that, he used to head RealNetworks, makers of the digital media player, for the Asia region.
Also read:
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=true+balance" target="_blank">Exclusive: Mobile app True Balance in advanced talks to raise upto $10m </a>
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=android+app" target="_blank">India: MobiKwik partners IRCTC to offer payment option on Android app</a>
<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="http://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=utility+app" target="_blank">Vietnamese fintech app MoMo raises $28m from StanChart PE, Goldman Sachs</a>
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True Balance, a mobile app that helps users check data and talktime balance on prepaid connections, has raised Series A funding from Softbank. 

True Balance raises Series A funding from Softbank Ventures

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True Balance raises Series A funding from Softbank Ventures

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