Pocket FM, an Indian audio storytelling platform, has seen its annualised revenue run rate double to $500 million over the past year. This growth is attributed to the company's increased reliance on artificial intelligence for content creation.
According to co-founder and CEO Rohan Nayak, AI now powers 93% of Pocket FM’s entire catalogue and is used to produce 99% of its new content. This shift has significantly reduced production costs, making content creation about 80 times cheaper.
The platform, which started in 2018, still uses human creators for ideas and storytelling, with AI converting these concepts into finished content at scale. This approach has enabled Pocket FM's more than 550,000 creators to produce approximately 2.5 million hours of AI-powered content annually.
The influx of content has also contributed to improved listener retention, with the 12-month revenue retention rate rising to 76% from 44% two years ago. Pocket FM's parent company, Pocket Entertainment, is also exploring expanding its AI-driven content model beyond audio, including a microdrama app called Pocket Saga.