Pocket FM completes first ESOP buyback worth $8.3M

Audio streaming platform Pocket FM has completed its first ESOP buyback.

The buyback worth $8.3 million saw participation from several of PocketFM's current and ex-employees, the company said in a statement.

"We're pleased that despite the challenging economic conditions, we remain unwavering in offering opportunities for wealth creation and fostering a culture of growth," said Rohan Nayak, Co-founder and CEO of Pocket FM.

The company recently raised $103 million in a Series D funding round led by Lightspeed.

Started in 2018 by Nayak, along with Nishant S and Prateek Dixit, Pocket FM offers podcasts and other content in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and other regional languages. The company has surpassed $150 million ARR and is growing at 57% QoQ, it said in a statement last month.

In February this year, Pocket FM launched Pocket Novel, an online reading platform connecting Indian writers and readers.

The platform seeks to serve as a gateway for visibility and earning possibilities for writers, besides helping them with distribution across formats and categories. In its beta phase, the platform has built a community of 1.5 lakh writers, with some top-performing writers making over $2,500 every month, the company said in the statement.