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NBCUniversal Invests in India Microdrama Producer in $80 Million Fundraising Round
NBCUniversal and Hornbill Capital have led an $80 million investment round in India’s EloElo Group, which makes short-form mobile dramas. The funding is intended to help the company expand production and take its Story TV platform’s content to international audiences, including in the US.
Founded in Bengaluru in 2020 by former Flipkart executive Saurabh Pandey, EloElo says it has more than 5,000 dramas across six languages and over 40 million monthly active users across its apps. The company also uses an AI production engine called Dolphin. The investment comes as NBCUniversal explores mobile-first formats, including a vertical unscripted series on Peacock; microdramas typically run for 60 to 90 seconds per episode.
In short
- NBCUniversal and Hornbill Capital led EloElo’s $80 million funding round.
- The Indian producer plans to expand into the US and other markets.
- EloElo reports 40 million monthly active users across its apps.
Explained simply
Microdramas are short, serialised stories made for watching on a mobile phone, often in episodes lasting about a minute. They are part of a wider shift towards brief, vertical video designed for phone screens, alongside social media clips and other mobile-first entertainment.
EloElo Group is an Indian company founded in Bengaluru in 2020 by Saurabh Pandey, a former Flipkart executive. Its Story TV platform offers dramas in several languages, and the company says it has more than 40 million monthly active users across its apps.
The sector connects India’s large mobile audience and local-language storytelling with entertainment companies seeking viewers in new formats and markets. For NBCUniversal, whose Peacock service has also explored mobile-first programming, microdramas offer a way to test how short episodes might reach audiences, including in the US.
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