OnMobile Global is one of those Indian tech companies that flew under the consumer radar but was quietly one of the most dominant companies in mobile value-added services (VAS) globally. If you ever set a Bollywood song as your caller tune in the 2000s or early 2010s, there’s a decent chance OnMobile was the company powering that service in the background. Here’s who owns OnMobile and why it still matters in 2026.
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India |
| CEO | Francois-Charles Sirois (Chairman & CEO) |
| Listed On | BSE / NSE (NSE: ONMOBILE) |
| Services | Caller tunes, ringback tones, mobile games, telecom VAS |
| Global Reach | 65+ telecom operators in 55+ countries |
Who Owns OnMobile Global?
OnMobile Global is a publicly listed Indian company traded on both BSE and NSE. The company was co-founded by Arvindo Bhimnath and Rajiv Pancholy in 2000 as a mobile VAS company. A pivotal moment came when Telesonica — led by Canadian entrepreneur Francois-Charles Sirois — invested heavily in OnMobile and Sirois became Chairman and effectively the largest individual stakeholder and strategic driver. Sirois brought a global expansion strategy that took OnMobile from an India-focused business to one serving 65+ telecom operators in 55+ countries. The company became best known for its caller ring-back tone (CRBT) business, where it was one of the global leaders. Institutional investors, retail shareholders, and promoter entities collectively shape its ownership. For telecom context, see who owns Bharti Airtel. OnMobile investor info at onmobile.com.
| Shareholder | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Francois-Charles Sirois / Telesonica | Chairman, major investor | Strategic investor who drove global expansion |
| Institutional investors | Public shareholders | Listed on BSE/NSE |
| Retail shareholders | Public float | Publicly traded company |
Key Milestones
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2000 | OnMobile founded in Bengaluru as mobile VAS provider |
| 2007 | IPO on BSE/NSE; company goes public |
| 2008–2012 | Peak of caller tune business in India; massive subscriber base across Airtel, Vodafone, Idea |
| 2013–2015 | Francois-Charles Sirois increases influence; pivots toward global VAS and gaming |
| 2017–2020 | Expands to 55+ countries; shifts from pure caller tunes toward digital entertainment |
| 2026 | Continues as global telecom entertainment services company |
My Take on OnMobile Global
OnMobile is one of India’s most globally successful but least well-known tech companies. At its peak, it was extracting monthly subscription revenue from hundreds of millions of Indian mobile users through caller tunes — and most customers didn’t even know OnMobile was the company providing the service, because it ran invisibly behind the telecom operator brand. That B2B2C model is powerful but makes it easy to forget how significant the business is. The Sirois-led global push was a smart strategic bet — taking a proven VAS platform to telecom operators in Africa, LatAm, and Southeast Asia where the same ringback tone economics work. In 2026, the question is what the next product looks like as traditional VAS revenue matures.
