India’s EloElo raises $80M from NBCUniversal and Hornbill for Story TV

EloElo Group, the Bengaluru company behind the Indian microdrama app Story TV, has raised $80 million in a Series C round. Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal co-led it, the company said in a statement. MIT Investment Co. joined, with existing backers Play Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Waterbridge Ventures and Griffin Gaming Partners.

The round values EloElo at $500 million, Ivan Mehta reported for TechCrunch. It takes the company’s total funding to $130 million.

“Story TV shows us what India wants to watch, and Dolphin AI gives us the economics to make it,” said founder and chief executive Saurabh Pandey.

Four apps, one micro drama hit

Pandey, a former Flipkart executive, founded EloElo in 2020. Story TV carries more than 5,000 microdramas in six languages and adds a new one every three hours. Users spend 95 minutes a day on the app, according to the company.

The group also runs Master, a micro learning app, and Voxy AI, an AI companion. Dolphin AI is its agentic AI creative suite, which makes images, audio and video. Across the four apps, EloElo counts more than 40 million monthly active users and 300 million installs.

EloElo says its revenue grew several times over in the past year. It started charging users in May 2024. It reported revenue of Rs 69.5 crore for the year to March 2025, Harsh Upadhyay reported for Entrackr. Its previous round was a $13.5 million Series B in April 2025.

Where the money goes

EloElo will spend the money on original shows in local languages, a launch of its microdramas outside India and more work on Dolphin AI. The company has 240 staff and wants to grow its AI and machine learning research team, TechCrunch reported.

“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 vice president of corporate strategy and development at NBCUniversal.

In its statement, EloElo cited Omdia’s forecast that microdramas will generate $14 billion worldwide by the end of 2026. It also cited Redseer’s estimate that 40 million Indians paid for a microdrama at least once in the year to March 2026.

In China, the state has backed AI microdrama production, and people now license their faces for AI-made microdramas. NBCUniversal’s Peacock, meanwhile, will come with YouTube Premium from 2027.