EloElo Group, the Bengaluru company behind the Story TV micro-drama app, has raised $80m in a Series C round co-led by Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal. The company announced the round on 4 November 2026.
MIT Investment Co. joined the round, along with existing investors Play Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Waterbridge Ventures and Griffin Gaming Partners. The round brings EloElo's total funding to $130m, the company said.
The company did not disclose a valuation. TechCrunch reported that the round valued EloElo at $500m.
“Consumer AI will change how content is created, distributed and consumed, and we intend to lead that shift from India.”Saurabh Pandey, founder and CEO, EloElo Group
What EloElo does
Story TV streams micro dramas: short, serialised episodes made for phone screens. EloElo said the app carries more than 5,000 dramas in six languages and adds a new one every three hours, and that users spend 95 minutes a day on it.
The group runs other apps too. Master is a micro-learning app, Dolphin AI is an AI creative suite and Voxy AI is an AI companion. EloElo said its apps have more than 40 million monthly active users and more than 300 million installs. TechCrunch, citing analyst data, reported that Story TV alone has more than 33 million active users.
Founder and chief executive Saurabh Pandey, a former Flipkart executive, started the company in 2020. "Consumer AI will change how content is created, distributed and consumed, and we intend to lead that shift from India," he said in the release.
Revenue and the funding so far
EloElo began charging users in May 2024. According to Entrackr, it reported revenue of ₹69.5 crore in the 2025 financial year, with losses roughly flat, and has not yet filed results for the 2026 financial year. The company said it achieved multi-fold revenue growth over the past year and has profitable unit economics.
Its previous round was a $13.5m Series B in April 2025, Entrackr reported. TechCrunch reported that the company has 240 employees.
What the money is for
EloElo said it will spend the money on original content in local languages, an international launch of its micro dramas and more work on Dolphin AI. Entrackr reported that the international plan includes the US.
Pandey told TechCrunch that a large share of the money will go to producing original titles and that the company will also grow its AI and machine learning research team.
Manoj Thakur, founder and managing partner of Hornbill Capital, said in the release that EloElo combines strong creative work with the ability to scale content through technology. NBCUniversal's participation gives the group a backer from the US television and film industry.
A crowded market
Micro dramas have drawn a wave of competitors in India. Entrackr named Kuku TV, ShareChat's Quick TV, Flipkart and Pocket FM among Story TV's rivals, and Seekho as a competitor to Master.
Paying viewers are still a minority. TechCrunch cited Redseer estimates that more than 40 million people in India have paid for a micro drama at least once, but only 15 to 17 million pay each month.
Company website: eloelo.in