Kuku FM Plans $200 Mn IPO, Appoints Kotak, Axis, and Morgan Stanley to Manage Listing

Audio streaming start-up Kuku FM’s parent company, Mebigo Labs Pvt Ltd, has appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital, Axis Bank and Morgan Stanley to manage a potential initial public offering of around $200 million (about ₹1,820 crore), Bloomberg reported.

The move signals the audio OTT platform’s plan to turn its rapid growth in user engagement into fresh capital to expand its content library, with a particular focus on regional languages.

The proposed offering is still at an early stage, and key details, including the final issue size, the mix of fresh equity and secondary share sales, and the listing timeline, are yet to be finalised, sources said. Kuku FM has not made a public comment, and the company has not yet completed the formal conversion into a public entity, a prerequisite for an Indian IPO, leaving the filing date uncertain.

Kuku FM IPO

According to the report, the IPO proceeds would be used mainly to expand Kuku FM’s content catalogue and strengthen its regional-language offerings, a strategic focus as audio and vernacular consumption continue to grow rapidly across India.

The start-up has also been developing new products, including a short-form video platform, Kuku TV, and an in-house generative AI studio aimed at speeding up content creation.

Kuku FM raised $85 million in a Series C funding round in October, led by Granite Asia, and counts 3one4 Capital, Fundamentum and India Quotient among its investors. The platform says it has more than 10 million listeners and creators, although reports vary on exact user numbers, and management has highlighted subscriptions and creator-led content as its primary monetisation channels.

Financials & Cost-Savings

On the financial front, Mebigo Labs reduced its losses to about ₹96 crore in FY24 from ₹116.5 crore a year earlier, while operating revenue more than doubled to ₹88 crore. The company has also cut its workforce over the past year, reportedly laying off between 80 and 100 employees, as part of broader cost-control and restructuring measures ahead of a possible public listing.

The proposed IPO comes at a time of strong activity in India’s primary markets, with several consumer-tech and media companies considering listings to complement late-stage private funding. For audio and short-form content platforms, investors typically expect evidence of scalable revenue models and clear unit economics around content spending, benchmarks that are likely to be closely examined when roadshows begin.