[Funding alert] Pocket FM raises $65M in Series C round from Goodwater Capital, Naver and others

Gurugram-based audio OTT platform Pocket FM on Thursday said it raised $65 million in a Series C round led by Goodwater Capital, Naver, and existing investor - Tanglin Venture Partners.

According to a press statement, Pocket FM will use the fresh capital to strengthen its leadership position, expand into new languages, invest in AI capabilities, and build the largest audio creator community. 

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Nishanth KS, Co-founder and COO, Pocket FM, said,

“In addition to audio entertainment, we saw 12X growth in consumption of self-help books audio courses. Users are looking  for high quality knowledge content to upskill themselves. With this investment, we are looking to grow our creator community further, be the biggest audio destination for entertainment and knowledge, and target five million paying users in the next 12 months.” 

“Audio consumption has seen exponential growth over the last year, and we are on a mission to build the largest audio OTT platform,” added Rohan Nayak, Co-founder and CEO, Pocket FM. 

Founded in 2018, Pocket FM claims to offer 100,000+ hours of enriching content via long-format content, audio shows, stories, novels, and podcasts. With a wide community of 50,000+ PUGC writers and voice artists, the startup has a plethora of the finest and premium audio content in eight languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu,  Malayalam, Bangla, English, Kannada, and Marathi). 

Pocket FM also claims to have over 50 million users and three billion+ monthly listening minutes.

Pocket FM had raised $28.6 million in previous rounds from existing marquee investors like Lightspeed, Tencent, Times Group, and Tanglin Venture Partners. 

YongJung (YJ) Park, Investment Director at NAVER Corporation, said,

"Pocket FM has demonstrated unbelievable growth since its launch and has amazing momentum,  quickly becoming a leader in the space of audio OTT platforms. With its creator-first platform, Pocket FM  is poised to lead this wave of growth in the audio OTT space and fuel the next generation of  entertainment experiences.”

Scott Shiao, Director, Investment at Goodwater Capital, added,

“Pocket FM empowers audio creators around the world in crafting the best long-form audio content, from writing to voice acting, while also providing a channel for consumers to find and discover that content. We look forward to helping Pocket FM to continue to grow its platform.”