EloElo Group, the Indian company behind micro-drama app Story TV, has raised an $80M Series C co-led by Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal. MIT Investment Co. participated alongside existing backers Play Ventures, Kalaari Capital, Waterbridge Ventures and Griffin Gaming Partners.
The round lands as short-form serialized drama, honed in China, becomes one of the fastest-growing categories in mobile entertainment outside it. Episodes run a few minutes, and audiences pay per unlock rather than by subscription.
From live gaming to micro-drama
EloElo began in live social gaming before moving into scripted short drama, a pivot that put it at the intersection of two Indian habits: heavy video consumption and willingness to pay small amounts repeatedly inside an app.
The company says it has more than 40 million active users and calls its unit economics profitable. It has built an internal AI production capability, Dolphin AI, which it will lean on for volume.
NBCUniversal’s involvement is the notable part. A Hollywood studio taking a lead position in an Indian micro-drama platform treats the format as an exportable asset, not a regional curiosity, and the company plans to expand into the US.
Why studios want the format
Micro-drama is cheap next to television, fast to test and native to a phone screen. For studios with large libraries, it offers a way to reuse intellectual property in a lower-cost wrapper. For platforms, it drives high-frequency engagement that advertising alone struggles to monetize.
The risk is saturation. Dozens of apps compete for the same attention and acquisition costs are rising. EloElo will spend on original content and international launches, betting that AI-assisted workflows create a cost edge rivals cannot match.
For Indian media startups, the deal is a template: build for a domestic audience that pays, then sell the format to studios who need it.
