Pocket FM, an audio storytelling platform, said its users in India and the US are getting increasingly comfortable with microtransactions— paying per episode or series—giving it a monetization engine that differs from the classic subscription business.
The company’s recent growth reflects how microtransactions and the deeper use of AI across content creation, editing and creator tools have started to scale up together, chief operating officer Lalit Gangwar said.
“Pocket FM is best understood as a microtransaction-led audio storytelling business rather than a pure subscription model,” Gangwar said. “Listeners typically start free, get hooked on serialized stories or series, and then keep returning to unlock the next episode or story arc.”
The company doubled its annualized revenue run-rate (ARR) to over $400 million ( ₹3,725 crore) in the past year, after taking six years to reach its first $200 million. Gangwar defined ARR as the annualized revenue run-rate of monthly gross revenue, driven primarily by microtransactions and, to a lesser extent, advertising.
ARR differs from reported annual revenue: parent Pocket Entertainment posted revenue of ₹1,768 crore in FY25, up 68% from ₹1,052 crore a year earlier, as growth picked up across India, the US and Europe.
“Our business today is diversified across markets, with the US as a strong contributor and Europe emerging as a meaningful growth region, alongside continued scale in India,” he said.
Pocket FM began in 2018 with subscription offerings, but now runs on a freemium model that blends pay-per-episode spending with premium plans. Users can start listening for free, wait for episodes to unlock over time, or buy in-app coins to access more content immediately, making microtransactions the main monetization layer for casual and repeat listeners.
The company also sells subscription plans that offer an all-access experience, typically with fewer ads and longer listening access for heavier users.
User retention
Pocket FM says it reaches more than 250 million listeners globally, with a library of over 100,000 audio series and a creator base of more than 300,000 writers. Its audio catalogue spans a range of genres built around serialized storytelling designed to keep users returning for the next episode.
Alongside audio, Pocket FM has video-drama formats on YouTube and other platforms, with titles across romance, revenge, fantasy and family drama. Gangwar said the company initially relied on 30-40 second trailers, but later shifted to longer 10-15 minute cuts to test story appeal, improve conversion and identify titles worth scaling further.
Pocket FM also competes for the average smartphone user’s time, even if it does not frame the opportunity as a direct face-off with or Spotify. Gangwar said audio remains the largest category after video, and contended that audio series tended to retain users for longer than many other formats.
“Pocket FM’s user retention in the US is around 40-50% and improving as the company launches better-quality series, although that still trails larger, more mature platforms such as Netflix and Spotify,” he added.
AI is now embedded across most of Pocket FM’s operations, from content testing and production to analytics, product, tech and design to speed up decisions rather than merely cut costs.
“For us, most of the (production) processes right now have some AI component to them,” Gangwar said.
He said a 200-hour series that once took up to two years to launch and assess for long-term retention can now be produced in about a month. While early AI output triggered user backlash, he said the quality has since improved enough to guide commissioning decisions.
Funds for expansion
Asked about a potential initial public offering, Gangwar did not offer a timeline and said Pocket FM would pitch itself to public market investors as a media-tech company rather than only as a fast-growing app.
“Revenue is the end outcome. But what you are building is more important,” he said, adding that the company’s case would rest on category creation, global scale and a content engine that is becoming faster and cheaper with AI.
In September 2025, Mint reported that Pocket FM had appointed Goldman Sachs to raise another $100-150 million, potentially through a mix of primary and secondary capital, to fund global expansion and strengthen its technology stack.
Pocket FM has raised almost $200 million so far, with its last completed funding round being a $103 million Series D in March 2024 led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and StepStone Group, valuing the company at about $750 million. Existing backers include Goodwater Capital, Tanglin Venture Partners, Naver, Tencent, Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd and Times Internet.
In India, it competes with , while also contending with Pratilipi and a wider set of audio and drama-led content platforms.