Pocket FM’s AI disruption from audio to comics, through the CEO’s eyes

When we wrote about Pocket FM a year ago, we noted the audio-tech platform’s journey was without precedent. It still is. 

Indeed, its strategy of blitzscaling through America is one-of-a-kind,  birthing an all-new consumer tech playbook for Indian startups that want to win the world. 

Over the last year, the Bengaluru-based company has continued its international march by expanding to Europe, with the UK and German markets grossing $15 million in revenues already, and France and Italy opening up shortly. It also forayed into a new content format (Pocket Toons), ramped up its in-house AI capabilities by launching three new products, scaled its revenues by ~500% to $127 million and narrowed its losses by 32.5% to $15.2 million. 

“Our core markets are profitable. The US is generating significant amounts of free cash flow now, and 70% of our business comes from there. India is nearing profitability. So, at an operating level, we are profitable,” Pocket FM Co-founder & CEO Rohan Nayak tells The CapTable. 

Over the course of an hour-long conversation, Nayak touched on Pocket FM’s AI breakthroughs, “unlocking creativity” with the tech, and using it as a growth lever to generate a mammoth 40,000-plus audio shows. AI-led audio series is now the fastest-growing (30%, month-on-month) segment on the platform, with the library slated to cross a million shows in a few years. “We’re not talking about AI as just an efficiency tool anymore. It’s not for cost-cutting. It’s for growth,” he said, adding that a Rs 1,000-crore IP in episodic audio entertainment isn’t too far away. 

Pocket FM’s proprietary AI tech would be opened up to the public in 2-3 months, Nayak told The CapTable exclusively. The company is also in the market for its next fundraise, a Series E round that could be upwards of $100 million, potentially minting India’s newest unicorn.