Pocket FM, which is the India subsidiary of Pocket FM US Corp., has recorded subscription revenue of Rs 83 crore, a growth of over five times. The company, which is in its pilot stage for its brand and ad solutions streams, has seen its ad revenue soar over 13 times to Rs 12 crore.
The platform’s expenses increased by 9.32% to Rs 207 crore, with advertising and marketing expenses decreasing by 45% to Rs 71 crore.
Content expenses more than doubled to Rs 21.29 crore due to higher content investments, while employee-related expenses surged by 135% to Rs 73 crore.
Pocket FM CFO Anurag Sharma said the platform’s key focus areas include strategic growth, global expansion, and financial resilience.
“Our commitment to staying financially healthy ensures a strong foundation for scaling up not just in India but also globally. With continuous investments into content and the writers’ community, we look forward to elevating entertainment not just limited to listening experiences but replicating the experience across other formats through IP stronghold,” he added.Founded in 2018, Pocket FM was built with a vision to redefine the audio OTT space by pioneering the audio-series category.As per Pocket FM’s ‘Rewind2023: How India Got Entertained This Year’ report, the audio streaming platform’s listener community surpassed 130 million globally, with over 75 billion minutes of content being streamed on the platform in 2023.
It had over 100,000 hours of content, with users spending over 115 minutes on the platform daily. The platform doubled its audio series collection, ending the year with over 2000 titles. 17 audio series have crossed 100 million plays, while 40 titles have topped 50 million plays.
The platform, which allows users to pay for audio content that they want to consume, registered over 20 million transactions in 2023.
In terms of revenue, 13 audio series crossed the Rs 10 crore mark, while 25 series collected Rs 5 crore. Insta Millionaire became a mega-blockbuster, grossing Rs 100 crore.
