New Delhi, April 3 -- Singapore-based venture capital firm Jungle Ventures has led a Series E funding round of $20 million (about Rs 171 crore) in digital storytelling platform Pratilipi.
The round includes $12 million in primary investment and $8 million in secondary transactions, the VC firm and Bengaluru-based Pratilipi said Thursday. The company's valuation fell in this round, to $100 million on a post-money basis from $265 million following its Series D round.
Chinese venture capital investors Shunwei Capital and Qiming Venture Partners were the sellers in the secondary transaction. Shunwei sold its entire stake while Qiming offloaded about 80% of its stake, VCCircle has gathered.
Shunwei first invested in the startup's $4.3 million Series A round, which was led by Omidyar Network in early 2018. It participated in later rounds up to Series C funding, which was led by Tencent in 2020. Qiming led the company's Series B round of $15 million in 2019.
Pratilipi, operated by Nasadiya Technologies Pvt Ltd, has previously also raised funding from South Korean gaming major Krafton, impact investor Omidyar Network India, Times Internet, Indian VC firm Nexus Venture Partner, Chinese tech giant Tencent, and several angel investors.
The new round comes almost four years after the company in 2021 secured $48 million in a Series D round led by Krafton Inc, with participation from Omidyar Network and others.
Pratilipi said the fresh capital infusion will support its expansion into new storytelling formats, including animation and vertical drama shows, while expanding its international presence beginning with the US. It said it has seen strong organic growth over the past year and claims its core online literature business is now profitable and cash flow positive.
The startup said the platform continues to see strong adoption in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, with newer formats like comics, audio series, and bite-sized videos, helping it reach young, first-time users who engage with regional stories.
Ranjeet Pratap Singh, co-founder and CEO of the vernacular self-publishing firm, told VCCircle that the company is expected to close FY25 with about Rs 84 crore in revenue, up about 45% jump from FY24.
Singh also said the company aims for an initial public offering in 2026-27, which could be in the range of Rs 2,500-3,500 crore based on the market conditions.
Singh founded Pratilipi in 2015 alongside Sahradayi Modi, Rahul Ranjan, Sankaranarayanan Devarajan and Prashant Gupta. The company acts as a discovery and reading platform for readers, allowing writers to publish their poems, stories and other literary works through its mobile applications. The company operates the platform on a "freemium" model, which means users are required to subscribe to read more chapters of the content.
It owns and operates Pratilipi FM, Pratilipi Comics, Westland Books, and IVM Podcasts. Some of its content has been licensed to OTT platforms like Jio Hotstar and Amazon Prime Videos, and for podcasts on Amazon's Audible and Amazon Music.
Singh said literature still accounts for 80% of its revenue. In March alone, the company will generate Rs 7.6 crore in revenue and about Rs 3 crore in cash flow, he claimed. "In literature, free users spend six hours per week reading on the platform, while paid users spend 14 hours per week," he claimed.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.