Audiobooks platform Kuku taps Kotak, JM Financial and others for Rs 3,000 cr IPO

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

Kuku, the audiobooks and storytelling platform that was earlier called Kuku FM, has picked four bankers to raise as much as Rs 3,000 crore (around $330 million) via an initial public offering (IPO), people familiar with the developments told Moneycontrol.

“Kotak, Jefferies, JM Financial and Axis Capital have been engaged for Kuku’s IPO and the company is looking to raise around Rs 3,000 crore via the process,” one of the persons cited above said.

The IPO will consist of both a fresh issue of shares and an offer-for-sale (OFS) component. The exact split, valuation, and other details are still undecided and will be finalised closer to the time.

However, Kuku has decided on the timing of its IPO.

“Kuku will look to file its papers during the January-March quarter and look to list on the stock exchanges by mid-2026 (calendar year) if market conditions remain buoyant,” a second source said.

Kotak, Kuku, Jefferies, JM Financial and Axis Capital did not reply to Moneycontrol’s queries.

Kuku, founded in 2018 by Lal Chand Bisu, Vikas Goyal and Vinod Kumar Meena, is looking to list on the stock exchanges at a time when public market investors have warmed up to new-age firms and have shown willingness to invest in the future potential of such companies.

Groww, Meesho, Lenskart, Urban Company and several other new-age firms have all listed on the stock exchanges and generated big returns for early investors and backers, which has further strengthened the conviction around such listings.

In fact, as many as 15 startup and new-age tech firms have raised close to Rs 40,000 crore this year, over 35 percent higher than the Rs 29,000 crore mobilised from 13 IPOs in 2024, according to Moneycontrol’s analysis, reflecting sustained public market appetite, improved operating metrics, and a broader shift in investor confidence towards Indian tech companies.

The momentum is expected to sustain into 2026 as many other large new-age companies, such as PhonePe, Oyo, and others, will look to go public.

“Companies are all rushing to IPO while the markets are hot and investors pour in money. Once the conditions turn, the pace will slow down, and the scrutiny/cherry picking becomes more intense,” a banker, directly involved with IPO, said.

Kuku, which also makes short-form videos and other types of content, has seen an increased demand for its services as more and more people look for byte-sized stories and micro-dramas, driving up overall traction on the platform.

The Bengaluru-based company makes money through paywalled subscriptions for its audiobooks that are sold to individuals (B2C) and businesses (B2B).

Kuku offers a wide-range of audio and video content spanning multiple genres such as business, self-help, personal finance, historical, religion, entertainment and fitness. In all, it has over 10 million subscribers.

The company clocked a revenue of Rs 104 crore in FY24 and incurred a loss of Rs 96 crore during the year. That was an improvement from FY23, when the company generated Rs 49 crore in sales and registered a loss of Rs 117 crore.

Kuku has so far raised over $120 million (around Rs 1,000 crore) from Nandan Nilekani’s Fundamentum Partnership, South Korea’s Krafton and Paramark Ventures, 3one4 Capital, India Quotient and several others. It was last valued at around $500 million, as reported by Moneycontrol.

It competes with Lightspeed-backed Pocket Entertainment, ShareChat, Dashverse, Eloelo, and others. The micro-drama market has also seen the competitive intensity increase after popular real-money gaming (RMG) platforms, such as WinZO and Zupee, have announced plans to pivot toward micro-drama content and grow their business.