EloElo Raises $80 Million Series C Led by Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal

EloElo Group has raised $80 million in a Series C round led by Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal, lifting the Bengaluru consumer AI and entertainment company's total funding to roughly $130 million. The round, which also drew MIT Investment Co. and existing backers Play Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Waterbridge Ventures and Griffin Gaming Partners, targets the fast-growing micro drama and AI-powered entertainment market.

The fresh capital has three jobs: fund original content across multiple languages, push the micro drama platform Story TV into international markets including the United States, and accelerate investment in Dolphin AI, the company's agentic AI creative suite.

What does Story TV bring to the table?

Story TV is the group's short-form scripted entertainment engine, built for mobile-first audiences. The platform hosts more than 5,000 micro dramas across six languages and launches a new drama every three hours, according to the company. Users spend an average of 95 minutes per day on the service — a figure EloElo points to as proof the format holds attention.

Part of the new money will expand the content library, with a stated focus on premium original productions.

Founded in 2020 by former Flipkart executive Saurabh Pandey, EloElo Group operates four platforms: Story TV, the micro-learning platform Master, the agentic creative suite Dolphin AI, and Voxy AI, an AI companion agent. The company runs content, distribution and AI-powered production as one integrated entertainment business, and reports more than 40 million monthly active users with over 300 million cumulative installs across its apps.

How strong is the balance sheet?

EloElo raised $13.5 million in a Series B led by Play Ventures in April 2025. The company began monetising its platforms in May 2024 and generated revenue of ₹69.5 crore in FY25, per its financial filings, with losses largely flat year over year. FY26 results are yet to be filed.

The company reports multi-fold revenue growth over the past year and says it has scaled operations with profitable unit economics.

How big is the micro drama prize?

Investor interest tracks the format's momentum. Omdia projects the global micro drama industry will generate $14 billion in revenue by the end of 2026. In India, Redseer estimates 40 million people paid for a micro drama at least once during FY26, and Lumikai's State of India Interactive Media Report projects the Indian market at $4.5 billion by 2030.

That growth has pulled in established platforms experimenting with short episodic storytelling and mobile-first viewing.

Who is EloElo up against?

Competition is tightening on two fronts. In micro dramas, Story TV competes with Kuku TV and ShareChat's Quick TV; Flipkart has added short-form content inside its app, and Pocket FM re-entered the space with Pocket Saga after shutting down Pocket TV.

In micro learning, EloElo's Master faces Seekho, which is backed by Bessemer Venture Partners and Lightspeed and raised $28 million in its own Series B.

What comes next?

EloElo's bet is that combining content ownership, distribution and AI creative tools under one roof gives it an edge as the market matures. Its international expansion of Story TV, premium multilingual content and deeper Dolphin AI investment will define the next phase. Whether the company can keep scaling its library, retain audiences and build sustainable monetisation will decide if the $130 million turns into a durable position.