Pocket FM’s valuation crosses $750 mn, bags $103 mn in Series D funding
Audio entertainment platform Pocket FM said that it has raised $103 million in Series D funding. The round was led by Lightspeed with participation from Stepstone Group.
The company’s valuation has almost doubled in the latest funding round, to about $750 million from $390 million when it previously raised $65 million in its Series C round in March 2022. The latest round brings Pocket FM’s total funding to date at $196.5 million.
“We are growing sustainably and we’re not in that position where we have a runway issue. We believe profitability is the natural outcome for us, given our unit economics,” said Rohan Nayak, chief executive and co-founder of Pocket FM, in an interview.
The new funding is likely to strengthen Pocket FM’s push into the US market and support its global expansion as the company plans to expand into Europe and LATAM (Latin American countries) markets in 2024. It will continue to strengthen its exclusive content library and create a strong IP (intellectual property) playbook by offering the writer community a platform to share their stories.
“We also want to accelerate our generative artificial intelligence initiatives,” said Nayak.
Emerging audio genre
Pocket FM identified an untapped niche in the entertainment landscape and capitalised on it by focusing on original and unique storytelling across different genres. It pioneered a new entertainment category in the form of audio series. Since its inception in 2018, Pocket FM has been driving serialised audio storytelling and has established itself as the leading player in personalised audio entertainment. The company is disrupting the entertainment category with its audio series and setting the stage for the future of entertainment.
Pocket FM has built the largest repository of exclusive audio series. It has over 100,000 hours of content, including 2,000 exclusive audio series and over 400,000 episodes across genres and languages.
The company has surpassed $150 million ARR (annual recurring revenue), and is growing at 57 per cent Quarter-on-Quarter (Q-o-Q). It has clocked over 20 million transactions in 2023. Globally, listeners spend an average of over 115 minutes daily. In 2023 alone, the platform witnessed over 75 billion minutes of streaming worldwide.
AI-led strategy
Pocket FM has put up an AI-led strategy for automation, content curation, production, and distribution. The company plans to leverage generative AI to scale its entertainment content offerings and build AI-powered personalised recommendations that enhance the overall user experience.
Nayak said the firm identified an untapped demand for audio fiction in the entertainment industry and developed a playbook to seize this opportunity in every key market. “Our robust content library of audio series and strong consumption behaviour on the platform is shaping the future of entertainment,” said Nayak.
“The focus remains on tapping into unique and exclusive stories to solidify our leadership in this emerging category and create a strong IP playbook. This latest funding validates our vision and the possibilities we bring to disrupt the industry,” he said.
Harsha Kumar, partner at Lightspeed said what sets Pocket FM apart is its vision to set up a sustainable and profitable business, backed by its unique pricing strategy. “It emerges as a great reference for the entertainment landscape, with its capability to demonstrate strong unit economics,” said Kumar. “They are not just building a new category but democratising the entertainment landscape with a tech-driven approach,” she said.
First Published: Mar 20 2024 | 11:43 PM IST