A Singapore company betting that the best advertising channel on a phone isn't an app you download - it's the inbox already sitting on every handset.
Most companies chasing your attention on a phone are fighting over the same real estate: the notification tray of an app you may never open. Novosol, a mobile advertising company based at 10 Anson Road in Singapore, took a different route. Its platform, moLotus, delivers a personalized, interactive video message straight to the phone's inbox - no app to install, no data plan to burn, no Wi-Fi required. If a carrier can text the phone, moLotus can reach it.
That single design choice is the company's whole thesis. By riding the telecom operator's own network rather than the open internet, Novosol reaches basic handsets and premium smartphones alike, and it does so at a scale it describes in the millions of messages per day. The platform is built on the company's proprietary mgram technology and marketed under the moLotus brand, which the firm pairs with the tagline "mobile magic."
moLotus is Novosol's breakthrough service and platform, built on proven proprietary mgram technology.— Novosol company materials
Founded in 2008 by Minhaz Lokhandwala, who still runs the company as Founder and CEO, Novosol has spent well over a decade on the unglamorous plumbing of carrier-grade messaging. In February 2024 that patience met capital: the company closed a Series B of more than $10 million from family offices in Singapore and the United Kingdom, and announced a partnership with Indonesia's Telkomsel that puts moLotus within reach of more than 280 million subscribers.
Figures compiled from Novosol, Dealroom, Tracxn, Crunchbase and press reports. Revenue and valuation are not officially disclosed; third parties estimate annual revenue in the $5M-$25M range.
Novosol partners with a mobile operator and plugs moLotus into its messaging infrastructure.→
A brand's campaign is built as a rich, ~40-second interactive video message.→
The message lands in the phone's inbox - no app, no download, no data connection needed.→
Customers respond in-message; brands automate follow-up and track ROI.
The point of the app-less approach is reach without friction. There is no funnel step where a customer declines to install something, and no assumption that they have data left in the month. For a bank in India or a retailer in Indonesia, that means a campaign can address the whole subscriber base of a carrier, not just the slice that happens to have the right app open.
Novosol sells to enterprises, brands and SMEs, but it reaches consumers through the telecom operators that carry its traffic. The customer list spans regulated, high-value industries - banking, insurance, automotive, retail, FMCG - along with government and even election campaigns, all sectors where reaching a customer reliably and with a compliant, permission-based message matters more than novelty.
The company associates its platform with a roster of global brands, and its footprint follows the carriers it works with across Singapore, Malaysia, India and Indonesia, with expansion discussions reported toward the Middle East, North America and Europe. Compliance is part of the pitch: moLotus is marketed as permission-based and PDPA-compliant, an important distinction for enterprises wary of privacy exposure.
Novosol's cleverest move may be commercial rather than technical: instead of competing with telecom operators, it makes them money. moLotus turns a carrier's subscriber base into a new mobile-advertising revenue line, estimated at roughly $5-$7 per subscriber per year, while brands pay for high-volume, personalized video messaging. Align your upside with the carrier's, and the carrier opens the door.
That alignment is why a single deal - like Telkomsel's 280M+ users - can reset the company's addressable market overnight, and why Novosol frames Indonesia as a nine-figure opportunity.
Patented GSM-based mobile video advertising and interaction platform. Delivers personalized ~40-second interactive video messages to any handset's inbox - no app, no data plan - at high volume.
The proprietary messaging engine underneath moLotus, engineered for reliable, high-volume delivery of rich media over carrier networks.
Campaign tooling for permission-based, PDPA-compliant marketing: personalization, interactive responses, customer-relationship automation and ROI measurement.
The crowded field around Novosol includes messaging and CRM platforms such as Bird (formerly MessageBird), Superchat and Termii, along with ad-optimization firms like Aarki and the broader world of SMS, RCS and app-based marketing. Most of those tools assume either an internet connection, an app, or a chat channel the customer has already adopted.
Novosol's differentiator is the opposite assumption. By delivering rich, interactive video without an app or data connection, moLotus reaches audiences that app-first channels structurally miss - and it does so through the operator, which lends both distribution and trust. Where much of adtech optimizes the click, Novosol optimizes the reach and hands carriers a revenue reason to say yes.
To emerge as a global leading player in Direct Customer Marketing & Engagement by building a world-class global platform.— Novosol mission statement
Minhaz Lokhandwala starts the company in Singapore and begins building mgram messaging technology.
The mobile video interaction platform is developed on top of mgram.
Early growth capital; carrier partnerships deepen across Asia.
Strategic alliance with Saudi Excellence Company to expand into the Middle East.
Over $10M raised; Telkomsel partnership reaches 280M+ Indonesian users.
Backed by Singapore and United Kingdom family offices. Earmarked for global expansion across Asia, MENA, North America and Europe.
Earlier institutional and founder capital that funded platform build-out and Asian carrier partnerships. Exact terms not publicly disclosed.
Funding figures vary slightly across Crunchbase, Tracxn and Dealroom; Series B "over $10M" is per Novosol's own announcement.
Founded Novosol in 2008 and has led it since. His long bet - that carrier-delivered, app-less video could out-reach app-first advertising - is the through-line from mgram's early days to the 2024 Series B and the Telkomsel deal.
Company materials list a small core team across finance, business development, marketing, operations and creative, supported by advisors with backgrounds spanning regional banking, telecom and media. Roughly 50 people across Singapore, Malaysia, India and Indonesia.
No internet required. moLotus rides the carrier network, so even basic, low-data handsets can receive rich video messages.
Millions a day. The platform is built for high-volume delivery measured in millions of messages daily.
It pays the carrier. Instead of competing with operators, Novosol turns their subscriber base into ad revenue.
Quietly early. Novosol has been building mobile video messaging since 2008 - long before it was a buzzword.
Novosol is a Singapore-based mobile advertising company whose moLotus platform delivers personalized, interactive video messages to mobile phones through telecom operators - without requiring an app or data connection.
moLotus is Novosol's patented GSM-based mobile video advertising and customer interaction platform. It sends rich, personalized video messages directly to a phone's inbox and can deliver millions of messages a day.
Novosol was founded in 2008 by Minhaz Lokhandwala, who serves as Founder & CEO.
moLotus is delivered through major telecom operators including Airtel, Vodafone, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, Celcom, Digi and Telkomsel, and is used by brands such as Samsung, HSBC, Standard Chartered and L'Oreal.
Novosol raised a Series A around 2019 and closed a Series B of over $10 million in February 2024, backed by Singapore and UK family offices, to fund global expansion.
Sources: Novosol, LinkedIn, Crunchbase, Tracxn, Dealroom, The Fast Mode, Arab News, Zawya. Figures marked as estimates are not officially confirmed by the company.