Indian audio storytelling platform Kuku FM reported a sharp increase in operating revenue for the financial year ended March 2025, reflecting stronger paid-audio adoption across regional markets as the company scales subscriptions and widens its content offering.
Revenue nearly triples year-on-year
Kuku FM recorded operating revenue of about ₹242 crore in FY25, up from roughly ₹88 crore a year earlier. The near threefold rise underscores growing consumer willingness to pay for podcasts, audiobooks and knowledge-driven audio content, particularly in regional languages outside India’s major metros.
The company’s revenue mix is led by subscription income from premium content, supplemented by ancillary monetisation streams. Kuku FM’s catalogue spans self-help, business and finance, religion, history, entertainment and personal development, enabling it to address diverse listener segments across demographics and geographies.
Heavy marketing investment to drive user growth
Revenue growth was accompanied by substantial spending. Marketing and advertising emerged as the largest single expense, at about ₹285 crore in FY25, reflecting an aggressive push to build brand recall and expand market share in a competitive digital audio landscape.
The company pursued a mix of influencer partnerships, digital advertising and offline promotions to accelerate user acquisition and subscription conversions. Other operating costs also rose: employee benefit expenses climbed to nearly ₹60 crore amid team expansion, technology and platform costs reached around ₹27 crore, and higher depreciation contributed to total expenditure of more than ₹411 crore for the year.
Losses widen but unit economics show improvement
Kuku FM posted a net loss of approximately ₹153 crore in FY25, compared with a ₹96 crore loss in FY24. While headline losses increased as the business scales, key unit-cost metrics improved—Kuku FM spent about ₹1.70 to earn every ₹1 of revenue in FY25, better than ₹2.27 the prior year—indicating progress on cost efficiency and monetisation per user.
Despite these gains, EBITDA and return ratios remained negative, consistent with the high-investment growth phase typical of fast-scaling digital platforms aiming for market leadership before sustained profitability.
Funding, IPO plans and strategic positioning
The company has raised multiple institutional funding rounds to support content acquisition, platform development and customer acquisition. Management is exploring an eventual initial public offering to raise fresh capital, shore up the balance sheet and provide partial exits for early investors.
Preparations for a potential listing include discussions with investment banks and possible corporate restructuring to meet public-market governance and disclosure expectations. Any IPO is likely to combine fresh equity with secondary share sales, depending on market conditions and investor appetite.
Market outlook
Kuku FM’s FY25 performance highlights the expanding market for paid digital audio in India, driven by regional-language penetration and growing demand for knowledge and storytelling formats. The company’s challenge will be to sustain subscriber growth while tightening cost control to move toward long-term profitability.
In a crowded audio streaming ecosystem, Kuku FM’s ability to balance aggressive user acquisition with improved unit economics and prudent capital allocation will determine its trajectory toward market leadership and financial sustainability.
