Indian audio storytelling platform Kuku FM has posted a sharp rise in revenue for the financial year ended March 2025, reflecting its rapid expansion in India’s fast-growing digital audio and knowledge content market. The company’s latest financial disclosures show that Kuku FM has significantly scaled its operations over the past year, backed by aggressive user acquisition and marketing initiatives.
The audio platform, known for its wide range of podcasts, audiobooks, and educational content in multiple Indian languages, continues to focus on building a strong subscription-led business model while expanding its reach beyond metro cities.
Revenue Nearly Triples Year-on-Year
In FY25, Kuku FM reported operating revenue of approximately ₹242 crore, marking a massive jump from around ₹88 crore recorded in the previous financial year. The sharp growth highlights increasing adoption of paid audio content in India, particularly among regional language listeners.
The company earns the majority of its income through subscription-based access to premium audio content, while additional income streams contribute to a higher overall revenue figure. Kuku FM’s library includes content across self-help, business, finance, religion, history, entertainment, and personal development, helping it cater to a broad demographic across age groups and geographies.
Heavy Marketing Spend Drives Expansion
While revenue growth has been impressive, it has come at the cost of steep spending. Marketing and advertising expenses stood at around ₹285 crore in FY25, making it the largest expenditure for the company during the year.
This heavy marketing push indicates Kuku FM’s strategy of prioritising user growth, brand recall, and market dominance in a highly competitive audio streaming ecosystem. From influencer campaigns to digital advertising and offline promotions, the company has invested aggressively to expand its subscriber base.
Other operational costs also increased during the year. Employee benefit expenses rose to nearly ₹60 crore, reflecting team expansion, while technology and platform infrastructure costs climbed to around ₹27 crore. Depreciation expenses also increased, pushing total expenditure to over ₹411 crore in FY25.
Losses Widen but Efficiency Improves
Due to high operating expenses, Kuku FM posted a net loss of approximately ₹153 crore in FY25, compared to a loss of ₹96 crore in FY24. Although losses widened in absolute terms, the company showed improvement in operational efficiency.
In FY25, Kuku FM spent about ₹1.70 to earn every ₹1 of revenue, an improvement from ₹2.27 in the previous year. This improvement suggests better cost management and stronger unit economics as the business scales.
Key profitability indicators such as EBITDA and return ratios, however, remained negative, reflecting the high-investment growth stage the company is currently in.
Funding Background and IPO Ambitions
Kuku FM has raised substantial capital from institutional investors over multiple funding rounds, helping it fund aggressive content acquisition and marketing strategies. The company is also exploring plans for a future initial public offering, aiming to raise fresh capital to strengthen its balance sheet, reduce losses, and fuel long-term growth.
Preparations for the IPO include discussions with investment banks and potential restructuring to align with public market expectations. The planned listing could include both fresh equity issuance and partial exits for early investors.
Outlook for India’s Audio Content Market
Kuku FM’s FY25 performance highlights the growing appetite for paid digital audio content in India, especially in regional languages. While the company’s aggressive spending has impacted short-term profitability, its strong revenue growth points to rising consumer willingness to pay for quality storytelling and knowledge content.
As competition intensifies in the audio and content streaming space, Kuku FM’s ability to balance growth with sustainable cost control will be key to its journey toward profitability and long-term market leadership.