New Delhi, Oct. 16 -- Granite Asia, a multi-asset investment platform in Asia that was previously known as GGV Capital, has led the $85 million (about Rs 747 crore) Series C funding round of Kuku, a mobile-first vernacular content platform.
Other investors which participated include Vertex Growth Fund, Krafton, International Finance Corporation, Paramark, Tribe Capital India, and Bitkraft. Most of the capital was raised earlier by the company and Granite Asia has come in as a new investor in this round.
The company said in a statement it plans to use the funds to strengthen its AI and data infrastructure, hire talent across technology and content, deepen creator partnerships, and accelerate growth efforts in India and beyond.
"Kuku represents a new wave of Indian consumer platforms built on deep local insight and mobile-first innovation," said Jenny Lee, senior managing partner at Granite Asia.
Founded in 2018, Kuku is a storytelling platform across multiple formats. The company operates two flagship products: KukuTV, which presents long-form stories as bite-sized episodes in a vertical micro drama format; and Kuku FM, which focuses on audio-first shows across entertainment and knowledge. Together, these platforms offer a content library across more than eight Indian languages.
Kuku said it has set up its own GenAI studio, which is speeding up content creation and cutting costs at every stage, from ideas and scripts to production, distribution, and audience engagement. Its AI tools also help with translation, ads, and sentiment analysis.
"Granite Asia's backing, combined with the trust of over 10 million paid subscribers, positions us for exceptional growth," said Lal Chand Bisu, founder and chief executive officer of Kuku. "With this investment, we'll bring celebrated actors and television personalities into our shows. This will build more and more shows that surpass 100 million views while delivering the premium content to our audience."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.