NBCUniversal and India-focused investment firm Hornbill Capital have co-led an $80 million Series C round in EloElo Group, the Bengaluru-based company behind Indian microdrama platform Story TV.
MIT Investment Co. joined the round alongside existing backers Play Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Waterbridge Ventures and Griffin Gaming Partners, among others. The raise takes EloElo’s total funding to $130 million. Avendus Capital served as sole financial advisor on the deal.
EloElo was founded in 2020 by CEO Saurabh Pandey, a former Flipkart executive.
“At NBCUniversal, we see significant opportunity in mobile-first storytelling and emerging formats like microdramas to engage audiences and meet evolving viewing habits. Under Saurabh’s leadership, EloElo has developed a differentiated, mobile-first approach with a clear focus on content and storytelling, positioning the company for long-term success. We’re excited to bring NBCUniversal’s global capabilities to the partnership as EloElo expands beyond India, including into the U.S. market,” said Deepak Arya, executive VP of corporate strategy and development at NBCUniversal.
Story TV now carries more than 5,000 microdramas in six languages and adds a new title every three hours, with each user spending 95 minutes a day on the app on average.
“A billion people now reach for the phone before any other screen, and the entertainment built for them will be video first, in their own language, in episodes that fit their day,” Pandey said.
Alongside Story TV, the group operates micro learning app Master, AI companion agent Voxy AI and Dolphin AI, an agentic AI creative suite it introduced recently at the FICCI Frames conference. The group’s apps have more than 40 million monthly active users combined and have passed 300 million installs, and EloElo said its revenue multiplied over the past year.
The company will put the new money toward original programming in local languages, an overseas launch for its microdramas and further development of Dolphin AI, among other projects.
“Story TV shows us what India wants to watch, and Dolphin AI gives us the economics to make it, which is how we have scaled with solid unit economics,” Pandey said.
Hornbill Capital, set up in 2014 by Manoj Thakur, has previously invested in PhysicsWallah, KreditBee, Dhan and Nazara Technologies.
“EloElo Group combines strong creative capabilities with the ability to scale content through technology, which is something we deeply believe in,” said Thakur, the firm’s founder and managing partner.
Research firm Omdia projects the global microdrama business will generate $14 billion before 2026 is out. Redseer estimates that 40 million Indians made at least one microdrama purchase during fiscal 2026, while a report from Lumikai forecasts the local market will hit $4.5 billion by 2030.
