Kuku raises $85 million in Granite Asia-led Series C round

Kuku raises million in Granite Asia-led Series C round

Local streaming platform Kuku (Mebigo Labs Pvt. Ltd) announced on Thursday that it has raised another $85 million as part of its Series C round led by multi-asset investment platform Granite Asia (formerly GGV Capital) with participation from Vertex Growth Fund, Krafton, IFC, Paramark Ventures, Tribe Capital India and Bitkraft. collected.

The round values the company at about $500 million, said a person familiar with the transaction on condition of anonymity because the terms of the transaction are private.

This amount will be used to strengthen Kuku’s artificial intelligence (AI) and data infrastructure, hire across technology and content, deepen creator partnerships and scale up in India and abroad, the statement said.

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The fundraiser comes at a time when demand for short, serialized video “microdramas” and premium audio shows has increased; This reflects renewed investor interest in mobile-first storytelling formats in regional languages.

Kuku FM last raised $25 million in September 2023, as part of the Series C round jointly led by Nandan Nilekani’s venture capital firm The Fundamentum Partnership and the World Bank’s private sector investment arm International Finance Corporation (IFC), and also participated by Vertex Ventures. At that time, its value was around $185 million.

To date, the platform has mobilized approximately $155 million in equity capital from a mix of domestic and global investors including Google, Paramark, 3one4 Capital, V Cube Ventures, India Quotient, FounderBank Capital, Vertex Ventures, Fundamentum and Krafton.

Founded in 2018 by Lal Chand Bisu, Vinod Meena and Vikas Goyal, Kuku FM started as an audio platform offering creation tools that allowed users to produce and broadcast original programs in multiple Indian languages.

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Kuku operates two broadcast products: Kuku TV, which delivers long-form stories as small-format, vertical microdrama episodes, and Kuku FM, an audio-first service covering entertainment and information, optimized for off-screen listening.

Lal Chand Bisu, founder and managing director of Kuku FM, said in a statement that the platform currently has more than 10 million paid subscribers.

“With this investment, we will bring famous actors and TV personalities to our programs. This will create more programs that exceed 100 million views, while providing world-class content to our viewers,” Bisu added.

microdrama explosion

India’s digital streaming consumption is on the rise thanks to its large smartphone base, low mobile data tariffs and seamless micropayments through Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Following trends in China and the US, Kuku estimates that the short-format audio and video market in India could reach nearly $2 billion annually in the next five years.

“Kuku represents a new wave of Indian consumer platforms built on deep local understanding and mobile-first innovation,” said Jenny Lee, senior managing partner of Granite Asia. “We are excited to catalyze the team’s vision to become India’s leading storytelling platform, leveraging our experience of partnering with consumer technology leaders in Asia to transform local creativity into global platforms.

Also Read | Kuku FM will go beyond voice and focus on foreign markets

Kuku FM’s rival Pocket FM has also asked Goldman Sachs to raise $100-150 million to finance its global expansion. Mint It was reported in September.

The market has attracted a number of competitors, including venture capital-backed players such as Flick TV (funded by Stellaris Venture Partners), Dashverse (funded by Peak XV), Story TV (funded by Kalaari Capital) and Zee Entertainment’s Bullet. Meanwhile, established media firms and social platforms are scaling their efforts through their own platforms such as Balaji Telefilms’ Kutingg, ShareChat’s Moj and QuickTV. Mint was reported last week.

Analysts estimate that India’s short-form video and microdrama ecosystem currently generates around $50 million in monthly revenue, or around $600 million annually, has more than 300 million users, and has the potential to expand to an $8-12 billion market by 2030, according to business consulting firm Redseer.