Kuku lands $85 million funding led by Granite Asia to accelerate Kuku TV, Kuku FM expansion

(L-R) Kuku founders Vinod Kumar, Lal Chand Bisu, and Vikas Goyal

Digital entertainment startup Kuku has raised $85 million in Series C funding to accelerate its content production and strengthen artificial intelligence (AI) efforts, the firm said on October 16.

Who led the funding round?

Granite Asia, a multi-asset investment platform previously known as GGV Capital, led the funding round, the firm that operates micro-drama platform Kuku TV and audio storytelling platform Kuku FM, said.

It also saw participation from new and existing investors such as Vertex Growth Fund, Krafton, IFC, Paramark, Tribe Capital India, and Bitkraft.

Moneycontrol was the first to report on Kuku's plans to raise funding from Granite Asia and other investors. The round is expected to value Kuku at $500 million, a nearly three-fold increase from $177 million when the startup last raised funds in September 2023, sources had told Moneycontrol. Kuku didn't disclose the company's valuation.

Where will the money go?

The capital will be used to strengthen the company’s AI and data infrastructure, attract talent across technology and content, deepen creator partnerships and accelerate scaling efforts in India and beyond, the company said.

“With this investment, we'll bring celebrated actors and television personalities into our shows. This will build more and more shows that surpass 100 million views while delivering the premium content to our audience,” Kuku founder Lal Chand Bisu said.

Microdrama boom

This investment comes at a time when micro dramas, short serialised dramas of one to two minutes designed for mobile viewing, are rapidly gaining popularity in India.

The surge has spurred the launch of more than a dozen apps from startups such as Kuku, Pocket Entertainment, ShareChat, Dashverse, and Eloelo aiming to capitalise on the trend.

Gaming platforms Zupee and WinZO recently forayed into micro drama segment following the government's blanket ban on real-money games.

Kuku launched Kuku TV in February 2025 and the subscription-based service is among the top ranked free apps on Google Play Store and Apple App Store. It offers vertical micro dramas across genres such as drama, comedy, romance, thriller, and action in over eight Indian languages including Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and Bengali.

“Kuku represents a new wave of Indian consumer platforms built on deep local insight and mobile-first innovation,” said Jenny Lee, senior managing partner at Granite Asia.

“We’re excited to catalyse the team’s vision to become India’s leading storytelling platform ― drawing on our experience partnering with consumer tech leaders across Asia to turn local creativity into global platforms,” Lee added.

AI push

Kuku said it has built an in-house GenAI studio that is transforming the content creation process by reducing turnaround time and production costs across every stage of development, from ideation and scripting to production, distribution, and audience engagement.

The company's generative AI tools are also used for multilingual translation, advertisement creation, and sentiment analysis, it said.

Founded in 2018 by Bisu, Vikas Goyal and Vinod Meena, Kuku previously raised around $73 million from investors such as India Quotient, 3one4 Capital and Vertex Ventures.

The Bengaluru-based company also operates Kuku FM, which focuses on audio-first shows across entertainment and knowledge. Together, Kuku has 10 million subscribers, Bisu said.

“Kuku’s rapid rise in the audiobook and microdrama space is a testament to their creative vision and execution. We see immense potential in these segments, and we’re proud to support their continued innovation in digital entertainment for millions in India,” said James Lee, General Partner of Vertex Growth Fund.