Pocket Aces raises INR 100 crores in latest round of fundraising

Pocket Aces secured INR 100 crores from Sequoia India, DSP Group, 3one4 Capital, and other prominent investors, to close its fresh round of fundraising.

Since its last fundraise in 2016, Pocket Aces has scaled viewership by 25x and monetization by 15x. Today, its socially distributed channels, FilterCopy (short videos), Gobble (food and lifestyle videos), Dice Media (long-form videos), clock ~500 million monthly video views, making it the most-viewed network on the Indian internet.

Last year, the Company launched Loco, India’s first live and interactive esports app, which has over 15 million registered users, with active users spending over 30 minutes daily on the app. Pocket Aces has a team strength of 145 with offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Delhi.

Pocket Aces will utilize fresh capital to invest in content, technology, and talent. The Company will multiply its social distribution by starting three new content channels in the next twelve months. Pocket Aces, which has created some of the most popular long-form shows in India such as “​Little Things”, “What The Folks”, and “Adulting”​, will build capacity to create as many as 30 long-form shows a year. Pocket Aces will also continue to invest in Loco, as it creates a robust esports and interactive entertainment platform for India, with an aim to hit 50 million users in the next two years. Lastly, the Company will bolster its senior leadership team and invest in training and culture development as it embarks on its next stage of growth.

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Ashwin Suresh, Anirudh Pandita, and Aditi Shrivastava, co-founders of Pocket Aces said, “This investment is a recognition of our leadership in the sector and an acknowledgment of the large potential of the digital entertainment market. With the massive penetration of mobile internet in India and a large consumer base hungry for local content, we believe that there has never been a better time to build a large content business here. We are excited to create new entertainment options for a new India.”

Shailesh Lakhani, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India Advisors, said, “Pocket Aces has exceeded expectations in creating a high -quality mix of mobile-friendly, episodic and interactive content offerings. They are building a truly impactful business in India’s exploding digital entertainment industry and Sequoia India is thrilled to continue supporting Ashwin, Anirudh, Aditi, and the entire team.”

Pranav Pai, the Managing Partner at 3one4 Capital, added "The Pocket Aces team has used their deep experience and grounded empathy for their audience's consumption behavior and tastes, to build amongst the largest and most viewed content portfolios in the country. With data-driven continuous feedback loops to help rigorously improve their production and narrative quality, their pioneering multi-format and cross-platform approach to the video has engaged the widest segments of the mobile-first demographic. We are excited to continue working with them to scale the evolution of content consumption in India."