The Huffington Post has launched in India as part of a tie-up with local media giant Times of India Group, with the backing of a strategic partnership with WPP’s GroupM.

The AOL-owned online media brand hopes to take advantage of the growing internet penetration and smartphone usage among India’s 1.25 billion population and estimated 230 million English speakers.

GroupM will be HuffPost India’s “strategic partner for brand synergies and advertising”, helping the website get off the ground. The Huffington Post used a similar deal with Dentsu to launch in Japan in 2013.

It becomes Huffington Post’s thirteenth international edition, with Huffington Post Media Group CEO Jimmy Maymann revealing the company is exploring potential media partnerships in China.

Huffington Post president Arianna Huffington said: “The launch comes at a moment when India is facing huge and unique challenges, but also when India’s spiritual traditions have taken their place at the centre of a global conversation about what it means to live a good life.

“It’s in looking back to these ancient traditions and tools that so much of the wisdom and strength needed to build the future will be found. I’m thrilled that HuffPost India will be there to chronicle this story and just as important, help Indians tell their stories themselves”.

CVL Srinivas¸CEO at GroupM South Asia, added: “While advertising on digital has been growing at a healthy pace we believe brands are yet to harness the full potential of digital media.

“With an iconic player like Huffington Post, brands have a great opportunity to connect with their audiences. We will be working together to create these opportunities and are very excited about this partnership”.