With 500% growth, Pocket FM joins Rs 1,000 Cr revenue club in FY24

Audio series platform Pocket FM has registered 6X year-on-year growth in its operating scale during the fiscal year ended March 2024. At the same time, the firm managed to narrow down its losses by 21%.

Pocket FM’ revenue from operations spiked to Rs 1,051.97 crore in global revenue from Rs 176.36 crore in FY23, as per the firm’s press release.

Income from the sale of subscription accounted for 88.8% of the total operating revenue which surged 5.8X to Rs 934.73 crore in FY24 from Rs 160 crore in FY23. The impressive surge in subscription income is attributed to an increase in its microtransactions. 

The rest of the revenue came from advertising services which soared 7X to Rs 89.34 crore in the last fiscal year from Rs 12.5 crore in FY23.

Pocket FM claims to offer more than 75,000 audio series, powered by a community of more than 250,000 writers worldwide. According to the company, it has registered over 45 million transactions and over 40,000 AI audio series have contributed to over Rs 25 crore in revenue. 

 “As we near profitability, our focus on innovation and operational efficiency sets new benchmarks in the entertainment industry,” said Anurag Sharma, CFO of Pocket FM. “We remain committed to delivering scalable, immersive, and profitable content experiences.”

The Bengaluru-based company also improved its economics as its losses narrowed by 21% to Rs 165 crore in FY24 from Rs 208 crore in FY23. With this, the company has improved its expense-to-earnings ratio from 2.18 in FY23 to 1.16 in the fiscal year ending March 2024.

In March, Pocket FM secured $103 million in its Series D funding round, led by Lightspeed and joined by Stepstone Group. As of now, the company has raised $196.5 million in total funding and was valued at $750 million in its last equity round. Soon after the fundraise, Pocket FM conducted its first ESOP buyback worth $8.3 million.

Pocket FM’s competitor Kuku FM reported two-fold year-on-year jump in its revenue to Rs 88 crore in FY24. The IFC and Fundamentum Partnership-backed firm reduced its losses by 18% to Rs 96 crore.