Bengaluru-based storytelling platform Pratilipi has just secured USD 20 million (~INR 171.26 crore) in a Series E funding round led by Singapore-based Jungle Ventures. That’s a big moment in the company’s growth journey—and a sign of renewed investor confidence in a challenging funding environment.
Pratilipi Series E funding round was announced on 3 April 2025, combining USD 12 million (~INR 102.75 crore) in primary capital and USD 8 million (~INR 68.50 crore) in secondary share sales. That’s a pretty healthy dose of new capital, especially after a four-year hiatus. Pratilipi’s post-money valuation has reset to USD 100 million (~INR 856.33 crore), down from USD 265 million (~INR 2,270 crore) in its previous funding round in 2021. That’s a correction, but not one that’s deterred the platform’s ambitions.
“We’ve been through this before,” says Ranjeet Pratap Singh, Pratilipi’s Co-founder and CEO. “Two years back, the market was great, valuations were high. Today, the market is bad, valuations are low. Tomorrow, markets will be high again. I worry about business fundamentals, not market fluctuations.”
Pratilipi Series E Round – Cap Table Cleanup Ahead of IPO
The funding round also helped Pratilipi clean up its cap table ahead of an initial public offering (IPO). Existing investors Shunwei Capital made a complete exit, and Qiming Venture Partners exited 75-80% of its holding in this round. That’s a deliberate move to remove Chinese investors from the cap table—a trend Indian startups are following as they anticipate regulatory and geopolitical scrutiny ahead of public listing.
Singh says formal engagement with bankers is expected in August 2025, with an IPO targeted for early 2026. The Series E funding will fuel Pratilipi’s two-pronged growth strategy: international expansion, especially in the US, and diversification into new storytelling formats like animation and vertical video drama.
The company recently launched its literature product in the US, which has so far catered primarily to the Indian diaspora. Now it plans to target the native English-speaking audience as well. Singh estimates that 20-50% of FY26 revenue could originate from the US, depending on early traction and scalability.
Pratilipi’s experimenting with content formats. Vertical short dramas, described as “two 100-minute episodes instead of 10 episodes of 20 minutes,” are a core focus. Singh believes AI-driven cost reduction—up to 90%—could make such formats commercially viable.
“That’s an entirely new format, which hasn’t even been launched yet,” Singh says. “It’s hard to say how quickly or slowly it will grow.”
Strong Core, Diversified Portfolio
Founded in 2015, Pratilipi has become a cultural force in India’s regional storytelling space. It connects writers and readers in 12 Indian languages, has 1.6 million writers and over 12 million monthly active users. It has 6 business units:
- Pratilipi Literature (core product)
- Pratilipi Comics
- Pratilipi FM
- IVM Podcasts (acquired in 2020)
- Westland Books (acquired from Amazon in 2022)
- Write Order Publications (acquired in 2021)
The company has also licensed its stories to third parties for adaptation into TV series, films and OTT content, with 5 TV shows and 1 web series already released and 25-30 more in development.
Financials
Pratilipi’s financials have improved significantly despite the past turbulence. For the fiscal year ending March 2025 (FY25):
- Revenue: INR 86–87 crore (~USD 10.3 million), up from INR 58 crore in FY24
- Net loss: INR 33–34 crore, down from INR 58 crore in FY24
The core online literature business is profitable and cash flow positive, generating around INR 3 crore/month in free cash flow. Around 70-75% of the total revenue comes from this segment. The company’s freemium model — free access, subscriptions and virtual coins — is the monetisation strategy.
Singh said that while India operations will focus on profitability and IPO, newer verticals and international business will focus on growth. Future fundraising will be based on which side of the business takes off.
A Content Giant in the Making
With USD 108 million (~INR 924.83 crore) in funding and backers like Krafton, Nexus Venture Partners, Omidyar Network and TLabs, Pratilipi is now positioning itself as a next-gen content company. The company is eyeing a piece of the massive global storytelling pie where Wattpad already rules. But Pratilipi is different because it targets a more mature audience and has a full stack creator ecosystem across text, audio and visual mediums.“2 hours of daily engagement per user and a growing user base, Pratilipi has figured it out,” said Arpit Beri, Partner at Jungle Ventures.
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