Pocket FM raises $22.4 million in Series B funding led by Lightspeed

New Delhi: Audio streaming platform Pocket FM said on Monday that it has raised $22.4 million in its Series B funding round. Led by Lightspeed, the round also involved new investor Tanglin Venture Partners and existing investors including The Times Group, which owns ETtech.

The startup plans to use the fresh capital to scale up operations, build a community of content creators, expand its presence across geographies and invest in technology for better recommendations.

Founded in 2018 by Rohan Nayak, Nishanth Srinivas, and Prateek Dixit, Pocket FM offers 100,000+ hours of long-format content.


“We are building a robust ecosystem for Audio OTT with Pocket FM and its community of content creators. Audio storytelling has now become a mainstream content format for entertainment and our mission is to build Pocket FM as a global entertainment service provider," Nayak, the company's CEO, said.

The startup claims to have registered more than 40 million downloads, three billion monthly listening minutes, and more than 110 minutes of average daily use time in three years.

It aims to surpass 100 million users in the next six months.

“We are excited to back the Pocket FM team as they scale to build the future of audio content snd are looking forward to the next phase of this incredible journey. The team has constantly innovated ahead of the curve, with multiple language offerings for their short- and long-form audio content and in becoming the go-to destination for audio content creators," said Harsha Kumar, partner at Lightspeed.