EloElo Group Raises $80Mn from Hornbill Capital, Others

Microdrama platform EloElo Group has raised USD 80 million (about Rs 760 crore) in a funding round led by Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal to deepen content across languages, with a sharper focus on premium originals and leveraging artificial intelligence.

MIT Investment Co and existing investors Play Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Waterbridge Ventures, Griffin Gaming Partners and others also participated in the Series C funding round, the company said in a statement.

Sources said EloElo has raised the fresh fund at about 5 times higher valuation of USD 500 million compared to the last funding round.

"Story TV maker EloElo Group raises USD 80 million as it looks to become a consumer AI and entertainment powerhouse. EloElo has grown rapidly on profitable unit economics. The capital will fund new original content across languages along with the company's international launch and doubling down on Dolphin AI, its recently launched agentic AI creative suite," the statement said.

Founded in Bengaluru in 2020 by former Flipkart executive Saurabh Pandey, EloElo Group has built Story TV into the format's leader in India: a slate of over 5,000 microdramas in six languages, a new drama launched every three hours and 95 minutes of time spent per user every day.

"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. This Series C deepens our content across languages, with a sharper focus on premium originals, doubles down on Dolphin AI, and takes what we have built to more audiences and more markets," he said.

The fundraise brings EloElo Group's total capital raised to USD 130 million to date.

The group also runs Master (micro learning), Dolphin AI (its agentic AI creative suite) and Voxy AI (an AI companion agent). Across its apps, EloElo Group has over 40 million monthly active users.

Microdramas are among the fastest-growing formats in global entertainment.

According to Omdia, the industry will generate USD 14 billion globally by the end of 2026.

"EloElo Group combines strong creative capabilities with the ability to scale content through technology, which is something we deeply believe in. The team's execution, financial discipline, and AI capabilities position it well for its next phase of growth. We are excited to support them in building category-leading businesses at the intersection of AI and content," Hornbill Capital Founder and Managing Partner Manoj Thakur said.

In India, Redseer estimates that 40 million people paid for a microdrama at least once in FY26, and Lumikai's State of India Interactive Media Report projects the market will reach USD 4.5 billion by 2030.