India’s Kuku Snags $85m As Mobile Content Wars Intensify

Kuku, an Indian storytelling level backed by Google, has raised $85 cardinal successful caller backing arsenic it intends to standard its audio and video contented offerings amid intensifying title successful nan South Asian nation’s mobile-first contented market.

The Series C round, led by Granite Asia (formerly GGV Capital), values Kuku astatine much than double its erstwhile valuation to astir $500 million, Kuku laminitis and CEO Lal Chand Bisu confirmed to TechCrunch. The information besides saw information from Vertex Growth Fund, Krafton, IFC, Paramark, Tribe Capital India, and Bitkraft.

The latest information besides included secondary transactions, pinch immoderate of Kuku’s early investors partially exiting by trading their shares to caller investors. This includes Google, which held nether a 2% liking and is now exiting entirely, Bisu told TechCrunch.

India, location to complete a cardinal net subscribers and astir 700 cardinal smartphone users, is experiencing monolithic maturation successful integer contented consumption, driven by ultra-low information costs and seamless micropayments. Prime Minister Narendra Modi precocious remarked that 1GB of information successful India costs little than a cup of tea. The country’s government-backed Unified Payments Interface (UPI) — a strategy that enables instant integer payments betwixt slope accounts — has besides made integer transactions easy and wide accessible. This operation has made nan Indian marketplace charismatic to world players for illustration Instagram and YouTube, while besides giving section platforms for illustration Kuku a competitory separator successful reaching wide audiences done contented successful section Indian languages.

In 2024, integer media overtook tv for nan first clip to go nan largest conception of India’s media and intermezo sector, contributing 32% of full revenues — ₹802 cardinal (around $9.13 billion), per an EY report (PDF) released successful March. The study besides projects that integer media will turn astatine a compound yearly maturation complaint of 11.2% betwixt 2024 and 2027.

This maturation imaginable has prompted players for illustration Kuku to research pinch caller formats, including nan precocious popularized microdramas — short, serialized video stories designed for mobile viewing. The format has caught connected crossed Indian startups and even attracted nan attraction of world platforms, pinch Meta recently launching its ain microdrama series successful nan state aimed astatine Gen Z audiences.

Founded successful 2018, Kuku first gained traction among Indian contented consumers with its audiobook offerings done Kuku FM. Since then, it has expanded its merchandise suite and now operates 2 flagship platforms: Kuku TV, which presents long-form stories arsenic bite-sized episodes successful a vertical format, and Kuku FM, which focuses connected audio-first shows. The platforms supply contented successful much than 8 Indian languages and person surpassed 10 cardinal paid subscribers, nan startup said, up from 2 cardinal astatine nan clip of its past information successful 2023.

The startup saw 2X maturation successful its mean gross per personification and 10x wide maturation since its past funding, Bisu said, without disclosing existent financial figures. He noted that astir 80% of its subscribers are from non-metropolitan cities.

Around 60% of Kuku’s subscriber guidelines is antheral and 40% female, Bisu said, adding that astir subscribers are betwixt nan ages of 25 and 35.

Kuku offers entree to its platforms done paid subscription plans, including ₹199 (around $2) per month, ₹499 (about $6) per quarter, and ₹1,499 (approximately $17) per year. Bisu said that nan quarterly scheme is nan astir celebrated among users.

Consumers walk an mean of 100 minutes regular connected Kuku’s platforms, nan laminitis said, adding that complete 90% of nan startup’s subscribers stay progressive period complete month.

Kuku gets contented done third-party contented creators, and it presently has astir 10,000 creators connected board. Of them, complete 50% are from mini towns and non-metro cities, Bisu said. He noted that nan startup pays astir ₹400 cardinal (roughly $4.5 million) monthly to its creators.

The Kuku FM app has led successful downloads and user spending among nan startup’s portfolio, which includes Kuku TV, Kuku Bhakti (a devotional app featuring stories based connected Hindu mythology), and StoRizz (focused connected bite-sized microdramas), according to information from Appfigures shared pinch TechCrunch.

As of September, Kuku had recorded complete 229 cardinal full downloads, including 122 cardinal for Kuku FM and 88 cardinal for Kuku TV. Kuku’s apps generated much than $4 cardinal successful user spending, pinch $2.8 cardinal from Kuku FM and $1.3 cardinal from Kuku TV, nan information from Appfigures shows.

In 2025 alone, nan startup saw complete 134 cardinal downloads — a 533% year-over-year summation — and $1.9 cardinal successful user spending, up 156%, per Appfigures data.

Bisu told TechCrunch that, successful position of consumption, Kuku TV is larger than Kuku FM, accounting for complete 60% of full usage.

The Bengaluru-based startup has built a GenAI workplace to streamline contented creation, employing AI devices for multilingual translator and on-demand advertisement production. The workplace includes package from AI companies including OpenAI and ElevenLabs, arsenic good arsenic immoderate of Kuku’s in-house tools.

“We are shifting astir of nan attraction towards our tools, because now we person batch of our ain data. We train those models pinch our ain data, and past really nan output is overmuch amended than extracurricular tools,” Bisu told TechCrunch.

The startup does not usage GenAI to autonomously nutrient contented but alternatively employs it to assistance creators successful processing audio and video stories for its platforms. The devices thief make titles, plots, scripts, dialogues, and thumbnails, while nan existent audio and video accumulation is done manually, Bisu said.

He added that 70% to 80% of nan activity astatine Kuku is powered by GenAI, pinch nan remaining 20% still done manually.

Without naming circumstantial individuals, Bisu said that nan startup plans to usage nan caller backing to heighten its contented by bringing successful celebrities, including movie and tv personalities.

Still, Kuku faces stiff title from section rivals, astir notably Pocket FM, which offers akin audio and ocular storytelling formats. Pocket FM has revenge aggregate copyright infringement lawsuits against Kuku. Most recently, nan Delhi High Court restrained Kuku from releasing caller episodes of 5 disputed shows.

Bisu said that nan lawsuits by Pocket FM were intended to distract investors. “Every time, whenever we do a fundraise, they [Pocket FM] spell into immoderate tribunal and they record a lawsuit. So it’s not nan first time,” Bisu told TechCrunch.

He added that Kuku has a dedicated squad that manually reviews each uploaded contented to cheque for copyright violations. The startup has besides developed devices to observe whether creators are uploading copyrighted aliases third-party content.

“Some of nan money [from this round] will besides spell toward improving these devices — we scheme to put successful exertion that tin place erstwhile a creator is utilizing personification else’s work,” Bisu said.

Compared to Pocket FM, Kuku had much downloads but saw importantly little in-app acquisition revenue, Appfigures information shows. While India accounts for nan mostly of Kuku’s downloads and earnings, Pocket FM generates 82% of its downloads from India but earns 98% of its gross from extracurricular nan country, according to Appfigures.

Image Credits:Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch

While Kuku saw important maturation successful some downloads and user spending successful 2025, Pocket FM knowledgeable a 21% year-over-year diminution successful downloads to 38 million, but a 61% summation successful user spending to $100 million, per Appfigures data.

That said, Kuku plans to usage its latest backing to heighten its AI and information infrastructure, grow its workforce of 150 group by hiring caller talent successful exertion and content, and deepen creator partnerships and standard successful India and beyond. The startup is already testing its offerings successful nan Middle East and nan U.S., pinch plans to standard successful nan U.S. successful 2026.