Pocket FM, a Bengaluru-based audiobooks platform, has secured Rs 168 crore ($22.4 million) in a Series B round of funding led by its existing investor Lightspeed Venture Partners. The funding round also saw participation from several other investors including, Tanglin Venture Partners, a venture capital fund floated by former Tiger Global executives.

As per the startup, the raised funds will be used primarily to build the largest community of content creators, increase its presence across geographies, invest in technology for better recommendations and strengthen the overall audio OTT category globally.

Pocket FM | India’s Largest Audio OTT Platform

Founded by Rohan Nayak, Nishanth Srinivas and Prateek Dixit in 2018, Pocket FM lets users discover and enjoy audio content ranging from audiobooks, stories and podcasts from the most diverse creator community. The online marketplace for audiobooks and podcasts claims to be offering over 1 lakh hours of enriching long-format content. 

Speaking on the development, Co-founder Rohan Nayak said,

“We are at a juncture where both Pocket FM and the overall audio OTT space are witnessing exponential growth. 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.” 

The audiobooks platform raised around $5.6 million in its Series A round of funding in October last year. Within three years of its beginning, It claims to have registered over 40 million downloads, 3 billion monthly listening minutes, and more than 110 minutes being spent by users daily on the app. 

The Bengaluru-based audiobooks platform aims to surpass 100 million users in the next six months. Pocket FM currently works with a thriving community of over 17,000 PUGC (professional user-generated content) writers and voice artists. 

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