FUNDAMENTUM LEADS $21.8 MILLION FUNDING ROUND FOR KUKU FM

Fundamentum Partnership, Nandan Nilekani's venture fund, led the $21.8 million funding round for audio streaming startup Kuku FM.

In its recently launched $227-million second fund, Fundamentum invested in Kuku FM for the first time. Last month, ET reported that the new fund was primarily sourced from local entrepreneurs and their personal investment offices.

Fundamentum is not the only investor participating in this round. Existing investors, including Krafton Inc, 3one4 Capital, and Vertex Ventures, have also joined.

After receiving $19.5 million in March from Krafton Inc., Google, Verlinvest, and other investors, this is Kuku FM's second fundraising in 2022.

By the end of next year, Kuku FM aims to reach over 10 million paid subscribers by expanding its catalogue, strengthening its content creation ecosystem, and providing more language choices.

Kuku FM co-founder and CEO Lal Chand Bisu said the company's growth demonstrates Indian audiences' demand for premium, unique, and immersive digital audio experiences. "We have seen rapidly growing interest for content in regional languages in tier II and III cities, semi-urban and rural segments. We aim to continue building a strong and diverse creator network that caters to this segment of the Bharat audience,” Bisu added.

The firm was founded in 2018 by Vikas Goyal and Vinod Kumar Meena.

Over 1,50,000 hours of content are hosted on the platform, including audiobooks, stories, book summaries, courses, and podcasts, with most of the content being exclusive.

Throughout its four-year journey, Kuku FM has built a business with robust fundamentals, a strong monetisation model, and a national community of creators and listeners. Prateek Jain, principal at Fundamentum Partnership, said Kuku FM fits ideally into Fundamentum Partnership's investment focus, which is digital-first, tech-led.