Headfone Raises $10 Million In Series B Funding Funds will be utilized to diversify content offerings across languages and to expand across genres.

By Saptak Bardhan

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Company

Audio OTT platform, Headfone on Tuesday announced to have raised $10 million in Series B funding led by Elevation Capital. The round also saw participation from Hashed, an existing investor, as well as prominent angels such as Ajit Mohan, Biswa Kalyan Rath and Anshumani Ruddra. Funds will be utilized to diversify content offerings across languages and to expand across genres.

"Unlike video or text, audio enables asynchronous & screen-free content consumption which allows listeners to consume the audio content throughout the day. Also, the popular fiction genres like horror, fantasy and thriller are really expensive to create and difficult to get right in video format whereas the same genres can be quickly produced in audio drama format, and still give an immersive and imaginative experience to listeners," said Pratham Khandelwal, CEO, Headfone.

The rise of OTT in India has been unprecedented. India has become a huge market for the OTT platforms. According to a report by PwC, the OTT market in India is expected to reach INR 11.976 crore by 2023 as compared to INR 4464 crore in 2018.

"What stands out about Pratham and Yogesh is the product-first approach they have taken to generating high quality user generated content. The uniqueness of this approach has resulted in a tremendous amount of customer love for Headfone, which is evidenced by their best in class retention metrics. What is even more impressive is that they have gotten to this stage with a lean, 9-member team that is passionate about creating great audio content," said Mayank Khanduja, partner, Elevation Capital

Founded in 2018 by former Facebook software engineers, Pratham Khandelwal and Yogesh Sharma, Headfone is an audio OTT platform that primarily offers audio dramas in fiction genres like horror, thriller, romance, etc. Headfone onboards creators and provides them with tools to create high quality content. There are currently three million monthly active users on Headfone. There are a total of 800,000 content pieces on the platform, which has been growing at a 10 per cent compound monthly growth rate for the past two years. Headfone has a unique community-driven, collaborative strategy wherein content gets created asynchronously rather than sequentially and currently offers content in Hindi.

Saptak Bardhan

Former Trainee Writer

Former Trainee Writer
Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Entrepreneurs

Myths vs. Reality of Entrepreneurship

Failure always exists as a variable quotient but no statistical number can ever guarantee a success rate

Business News

HP Is Laying Off Up to 2,000 Employees 'All Over the Company'

HP is aiming to save $300 million through job cuts by October.

Business News

Citigroup Mistakenly Credited a Customer with $81 Trillion Instead of $280: 'Inputting Error'

An employee caught the mistake quickly, but the bank has recently made other errors that have drawn scrutiny and fines from regulators.

Money & Finance

The 'Treat Yo Self' Budget — How to Splurge Responsibly Without the Guilt Trip

Explore the balance between saving and indulging with our guide. Learn how to enjoy life's little luxuries, plan for treats in your budget and make smart spending decisions without derailing your financial goals.

Thought Leaders

11 Effective Ways to Cope with Entrepreneurial Stress

The negative health consequences of unchecked stress are well known, but these simple methods will short-circuit it and increase productivity.