Lightspeed leads $22.4 Mn round in Pocket FM

Pocket FM, an audio over-the-top (OTT) audio-focused app, has raised $22.4 Mn in a round led by Lightspeed. Times Group and Tanglin Ventures have also joined the new round.

According to the Gurugram-based startup, the funds will be used to ramp up its operations and to build a larger content creator community while increasing presence across geographies. The startup will also invest in technology for better recommendation algorithms. 

Founded in 2018 by Rohan Nayak, Nishant KS and Prateek Dixit, Pocket FM is an online marketplace that offers long-form audio content including audio shows, stories, novels and podcasts.

The startup claims that its app has over 100,000 hours of content across various genres from more than 17,000 writers and voice artists creating content in eight languages—Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bangla, English, Kannada and Marathi.