Pocket FM, an Indian audio storytelling platform, has doubled its annualized revenue run rate to $500 million over the past year, driven by an aggressive shift to AI-powered content production. Co-founder and CEO Rohan Nayak said in an interview that AI now powers 93% of Pocket FM’s overall catalog and is used to produce 99% of its new content. The startup, founded in 2018 for serialized audio stories, still relies on human creators for ideas and storytelling, using AI to turn those concepts into finished content at scale. “We want to create great IPs that last 100 years, and that needs humans,” Nayak told TechCrunch. AI head Vasu Sharma, a former Meta and Tesla scientist, said the company has trained its own models for creative writing and text-to-speech, using years of production data and listener engagement signals.

Economics are a central driver. Nayak said AI has made content production about 80 times cheaper, and 100 hours of content that previously took about a year can now be made in a day. More than 550,000 creators are producing about 2.5 million hours of AI-powered content per year; two years ago the entire catalog comprised roughly 100,000 hours. The platform has built a library of over 770,000 audio series. The influx of content helped improve listener retention: the 12-month revenue retention rate rose to 76% from 44% two years ago, which Nayak attributed partly to more stories matching diverse listener preferences.

Pocket FM’s annualized revenue run rate climbed from about $250 million a year ago to $430 million in April and $500 million now, calculated by multiplying monthly revenue by 12 rather than using contracted recurring revenue. Growth coincided with expanded AI use, entry into markets including the U.K., Germany, and France, and user-generated content launch in the U.S. Some 96 titles have generated over $1 million in revenue each, including 13 that crossed $10 million. With India as the primary market, Pocket FM has more than 250 million listeners across over 20 countries. The U.S. market grew around 70% in the past year and is now the largest, accounting for about 70% of the annualized revenue run rate. Approximately $85 million of annualized revenue comes from ads, while the remaining roughly $415 million comes from users paying to unlock individual episodes.

Pocket FM’s parent company, Pocket Entertainment, is extending the AI-driven content model beyond audio. Its three-month-old microdrama app, Pocket Saga, has reached an annualized revenue run rate of about $15 million, currently available only in the U.S. and entirely AI-produced, unlike Pocket FM where humans remain involved in story development. The company is also using successful Pocket FM audio stories to create AI-generated videos for Pocket Saga, with no traditional live-action production. Pocket Entertainment plans to enter at least two more entertainment formats over the next five years and aims to turn successful stories into books, television, and movies through licensing deals.

Pocket Entertainment, based in Bengaluru and Culver City, California, is in talks with investors about raising fresh capital, reportedly seeking $100 million to $120 million at a valuation of about $2 billion. Nayak did not deny the talks but said the startup is under no immediate pressure to raise funds, and a new round would primarily fund further AI investment and new formats. The company says it is profitable and generating positive cash flow on an adjusted basis but declined to disclose exact figures. A public listing is still some way off; Nayak said Pocket Entertainment does not plan to go public in the next 24 months, keeping options open for a listing in India or the U.S.