EloElo Raises $80M

Hollywood is looking at India’s phone screens. NBCUniversal has joined Hornbill Capital in an $80 million Series C round for EloElo, the company behind the popular Story TV app, betting that one-minute serialized dramas will become a major entertainment category. Quick Facts What Are Microdramas? Microdramas are serialized stories told in very short, vertical-video episodes designed for phones. TechCrunch reports that more than 118 million people in India watch them every month. The format has also caught on in the U.S. and China, with Hollywood names like Issa Rae, James Franco and Kim Kardashian investing in or starring in microdrama projects. Why India Is Such a Big Market India has more than a billion internet users and a huge appetite for entertainment. Analysts quoted by TechCrunch expect the industry to pass $3 billion to $4 billion in annual revenue by 2030. Last year, apps like Story TV, Kuku TV and Quick TV ranked among the country’s top downloaded video streaming apps. What Story TV Offers Former Flipkart executive Saurabh Pandey founded EloElo in 2020. Story TV now carries more than 5,000 titles in six languages, and users spend about 95 minutes a day across multiple sessions. Pandey believes the next billion users will grow up watching on phones, in short slots throughout the day, not through appointment TV. He sees serialized storytelling as the unsolved piece for mobile. The Monetization Challenge Making money is harder than gaining viewers. The company sells monthly, quarterly and yearly subscriptions and also offers ad-supported free content, though reports suggest ads are less lucrative than subscriptions. The numbers show the gap. Redseer estimates more than 40 million people have paid for microdramas at least once, but only 15 to 17 million pay monthly. An Ormax Media survey found that 72% of viewers have never paid. AI: “A Race Car Needs a Driver” EloElo has built an internal AI tool called Dolphin AI, which can act as an editor with templates and models for images, audio and video. The company plans to open it more widely, including for marketing campaigns and ads. Pandey compares AI to a fast race car that still needs an expert driver, meaning a creative director or showrunner. He says the best stories he has seen blend human and AI effort. Beyond Microdramas EloElo also runs a vertical video learning app called Master and an AI companion app called Voxy AI. Across its apps, it has more than 40 million monthly users, with most coming from Story TV. The company employs 240 people and plans to expand its AI and machine learning team and fund more original titles. Competition Story TV competes with free platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, plus other microdrama players like Kuku and Dashverse’s Shortfree. Pandey believes quality original content, including partnerships such as the one with Balaji Telefilms, will keep users coming back. What It Means NBCUniversal’s investment shows traditional media’s growing interest in mobile-first storytelling. For India, it signals that vertical drama has moved beyond experiment into serious funding territory, though converting free viewers into paying subscribers is still the central test. What Readers Are Asking How much did EloElo raise? $80 million in a Series C. What is its valuation? $500 million. What is Story TV? A microdrama app with more than 33 million monthly users. Who invested? Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal, among others. What to Watch Next Look for EloElo’s original content slate, wider launch of Dolphin AI and signs that paid subscriptions are growing. Source: TechCrunch