Mumbai-based Kuku FM raises $85 million in funding led by Granite Asia, others

Kuku FM, the Mumbai-based audio and video content platform, has raised $85 million in a new funding round led by Granite Asia, previously known as GGV Capital.

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The round also saw participation from existing investors, including Vertex Growth Fund, Krafton, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Paramark, Tribe Capital India, and Bitkraft Ventures.

Founded in 2018 by Lal Chand Bisu, Vikas Goyal, and Vinod Kumar Meena, Kuku FM operates two main products, its flagship audio platform and Kuku TV, which focuses on serialized microdramas. The startup claims to have over 10 million paying subscribers and has raised about $156 million to date.

The startup plans to use the fresh capital to strengthen its AI and data infrastructure, expand creator partnerships, and accelerate hiring as it scales across India. 

“We started producing content with Hindi and then launched Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. We will be launching more languages to strengthen our content library,” Bisu said. “We also have to spend more on the tech side, on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools, as that is one of the most important aspects for creators today.”

According to Bisu, about 70-80% of the platform’s content production is supported by AI tools developed in-house, which assist creators through every stage of content development, from ideation and scripting to production, translation, and distribution. The startup said these tools have significantly reduced turnaround time and production costs.

Kuku FM’s revenue from operations surged 2.1 times year-on-year to Rs 88 crore in FY24, up from Rs 41 crore in FY23, while its losses narrowed 18 percent to Rs 96 crore.

The company last raised $25 million in September 2023 in a round co-led by IFC and Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum Partnership, when it was valued at roughly $185 million.

Earlier this year, Kuku FM launched Kuku TV, a vertical video platform for short-form dramas, amid rising interest in mobile-first storytelling.