Pocket FM’s India arm revenue climbs to Rs 131 crore in FY23; losses reduced to 75.7 crore

Pocket FM's Indian arm has reported a 647% increase in revenue for the financial year 2023, reaching Rs 131 crore. 

The surge is primarily driven by a significant rise in microtransaction revenue, which soared by 417% to Rs 82.8 crore, and a staggering 1120% increase in advertising revenue, reaching Rs 12.17 crore.

Reduction in losses and expense management

The startup has reduced its losses before tax by 56%, bringing them down to Rs 75.7 crore. Despite the revenue hike, Pocket FM has been cautious with its expenses, which grew by 9.32% to Rs 206.78 crore. 

Notably, advertising and marketing expenses were cut by 45% to Rs 70.57 crore.

Strategic investments and hiring

Pocket FM's commitment to expansion is evident in its doubled content expenses, which reached Rs 21.29 crore in FY23. The firm also increased its employee spending from Rs 30.7 crore in 2022 to Rs 73.3 crore in 2023, aligning with its growth strategy. This includes key hires like former Netflix executive Pannagadatta K. Shivaswamy and other notable industry veterans.

Anurag Sharma, the Chief Financial Officer of Pocket FM, emphasized the company's focus on strategic growth, global expansion, and financial resilience. He stated, “Our commitment to staying financially healthy ensures a strong foundation for scaling up not just in India but also globally.”

Focused on growth

The platform, offering over 100,000 hours of diverse long-format audio content in multiple languages, has seen its listener base grow to over 130 million globally.

In 2023, Pocket FM clocked over 20 million transactions and pledged Rs 250 crore to nurture its writing community, doubling its size to over 150,000. 

Sharma added, “With continuous investments into content and the writers’ community, we look forward to elevating entertainment not just limited to listening experiences but replicating the experience across other formats through IP stronghold.”

What are the offerings of Pocket FM?

Founded in 2018 by IIT-Kharagpur graduates Rohan Nayak, Nishanth Srinivas, and Prateek Dixit, Pocket FM provides a variety of long-form audio content, including audio shows, stories, novels, and podcasts.

According to a CrunchBase report, the audio series platform has raised over $109 million in funding till date from investors, including Naver, Goodwater Capital, The Times Group, and Tencent, among others.

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