Pocket FM raises $65 mn in funding from Goodwater Capital, Naver, Tanglin

Audio OTT platform Pocket FM has raised USD 65 million (about Rs 492 crore) in a Series C funding round from Goodwater Capital, Naver and existing investor Tanglin Venture Partners.

The capital will be invested in strengthening its leadership position, expanding into new languages, investing in AI capabilities and building the largest audio creator community, the company said in a statement.

"We are elated to announce our Series C funding and would like to thank Goodwater Capital, Naver, and Tanglin Venture Partners for their trust in us. This is a validation of our market leadership and trust in our execution capabilities.

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

Pocket FM offers over 1,00,000 hours of long-format content, audio series, stories, novels, podcasts, and knowledge shows in 8 languages -- Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bangla, English, Kannada, and Marathi.

"In addition to audio entertainment, we saw 12 times growth in consumption of self-help books, audio courses. Users are looking for high-quality knowledge content to up-skill themselves.

"With this investment, we are looking to grow our creator community further, be the biggest audio destination for entertainment and knowledge, and targetting 5 million paying users in the next 12 months," Pocket FM co-founder and COO Nishanth KS said.

Founded in 2018, the company claims to have over 50 million users and registered over 3 billion monthly listening minutes.

"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," Goodwater Capital, director for investment, Scott Shiao said.

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

"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. We're excited to partner with them in the entertainment and content market as they build a robust audio ecosystem for audiences and creators alike, and to support the company in its next chapter of growth," Naver Corporation, investment director, YongJung Park said.