EloElo Group Raises $80 Million in Series C Funding Led by Hornbill Capital

Bengaluru-based EloElo Group, which operates the microdrama platform Story TV, has secured $80 million in a Series C funding round. The latest round was led by Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal, bringing the company's total capital raised to $130 million.

The funding saw participation from existing investors Kalaari Capital, Play Ventures, Waterbridge Ventures, and Griffin Gaming Partners. The fresh capital will be directed toward scaling original content, advancing artificial intelligence capabilities, and driving international expansion.

Founded in 2020 by former Flipkart executive Saurabh Pandey, EloElo has built a library of over 5,000 microdramas across six languages. The company currently produces around 250 new dramas every month and plans to more than double its content slate over the next year, focusing primarily on Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Alongside Story TV, the group operates the micro-learning platform Master and Voxy AI.

The company reports significant user engagement, with daily time spent per user rising to 95 minutes, up from 65-70 minutes a few months ago. Across its platforms, EloElo counts over 120 million app installs and more than 40 million monthly active users.

Artificial intelligence plays a central role in the company's operational model. According to Pandey, 70 to 80 percent of the workflows involved in producing microdramas are now AI-powered. This integration has helped reduce production costs to ₹15 to 17 lakh per drama. The company is actively investing in its proprietary AI-powered creative suite, Dolphin AI, and plans to expand its engineering teams in data science, machine learning, and generative AI.

As part of its growth strategy, EloElo is eyeing international expansion, starting with the United States. The company aims to target both the Indian diaspora and native-language viewers in overseas markets.

Manoj Thakur, Founder and Managing Partner of Hornbill Capital, noted that the team's execution, financial discipline, and AI capabilities position it well for its next phase of growth. Deepak Arya, Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Development at NBCUniversal, added that EloElo has developed a differentiated, mobile-first approach focused on content and storytelling under Pandey's leadership.

The fundraising comes amid broader industry growth. Omdia estimates that the global microdrama industry will generate $14 billion by the end of 2026. In India, Redseer estimates that 40 million people paid for a microdrama at least once in FY26.

"EloElo's latest funding round highlights the rising investor interest in mobile-first entertainment and short-format video consumption. By leveraging artificial intelligence to lower production costs and streamline workflows, the company has created a scalable economic model for content creation. Expanding into international markets like the US will be a critical test for their localization strategy, but their disciplined execution and strong user engagement metrics provide a solid foundation for this next phase of growth." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes