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

Vernacular streaming platform Kuku (Mebigo Labs Pvt. Ltd) has raised $85 million more 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, it said in a statement on Thursday.

The round values the company at about $500 million post-money, said a person aware of the transaction on the condition of anonymity, as the deal terms are private.

The 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 overseas, the statement added.

The fundraising comes amid rising demand for short, serialized video “micro-dramas” and premium audio shows, reflecting 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, co-led by Nandan Nilekani's venture capital firm The Fundamentum Partnership and the World Bank's private sector investment arm International Finance Corporation (IFC), with Vertex Ventures also participating. It was valued at about $185 million post-money at the time.

The platform has mobilized roughly $155 million in equity to date from a mix of domestic and global investors such as Google, Paramark, 3one4 Capital, V Cube Ventures, India Quotient, FounderBank Capital, Vertex Ventures, Fundamentum and Krafton.

Kuku FM, founded in 2018 by Lal Chand Bisu, Vinod Meena and Vikas Goyal, began as an audio platform that offers creation tools, allowing users to produce and publish original shows in multiple Indian languages.

Kuku operates two streaming products: Kuku TV, which serves long-form stories as bite-sized, vertical microdrama episodes and Kuku FM, an audio-first service spanning entertainment and knowledge, optimized for off‑screen listening.

The platform currently has over 10 million paid subscribers, said Lal Chand Bisu, founder and chief executive of Kuku FM, in the statement.

"With this investment we'll bring celebrated actors and TV personalities into our shows. This will build more and more shows that surpass 100 million views while delivering the premium content to our audience,” Bisu added.

Microdrama boom

India’s digital streaming consumption is expanding on the back of a large smartphone base, low mobile data tariffs and frictionless micropayments via Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Kuku estimates the short‑form audio and video market in India could reach about $2 billion annually over the next five years, tracking trends seen in China and the US.

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

Kuku FM’s rival Pocket FM has also appointed Goldman Sachs to raise $100-150 million to fund its global expansion, Mint reported in September.

The market has drawn a crowded slate of challengers, 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 reported last week.

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