Pocket FM, a leading OTT app, has raised $22.4 million in a Series B funding round led by Lightspeed, which also saw the participation of Times Group and first-time investor in the company, Tanglin Venture Partners. The fresh capital will be used to scale up operations, build the largest community of content creators, strengthen the overall audio OTT category globally, and invest in technology for better recommendations.
Pocket FM, founded in 2018, claims to be one of the largest OTT players in India that offers more than 100,000 hours of long-format content. Over the last three years, the company has registered more than 40 million downloads, 3 billion monthly listening minutes, and more than 110 minutes spent by users daily on the app. It is one of the top ranking apps in the Music Audio category on the Play Store. The company hopes to surpass 100 million users in the next six months.
We are building a robust ecosystem for audio OTT with Pocket FM and its largest community of content creators. There is a juncture where both the Pocket FM and the overall audio OTT space are witnessing exponential growth. Audio storytelling has become a mainstream content format for entertainment and our mission is to build Pocket FM as a global entertainment service provider. Rohan Nayak, co-founder and CEO, said we are very optimistic about the future, and are grateful to our investors for their continued faith and support in our vision.
Harsha Kumar, Partner at Lightspeed, said that the investment firm is excited to support the Pocket FM team as they scale up to build the future of audio content and are looking forward to the next phase of this incredible journey. Kumar said that the team has always innovated ahead of the curve, with multiple language offerings for short and long form audio content and became the go-to destination for audio content creators.