How storytelling platform Pratilipi scripted a rare hit
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Bengaluru: During the long hours of pandemic-induced lockdown, some of his friends picked up mobile gaming while others discovered short videos on YouTube and Instagram. But for Rohit Agarwal, a garment shop owner from Tumsar, a town in north-west Maharashtra, it was reading a college love story that sparked a new passion.
Within weeks, Agarwal found himself spending hours every day engrossed in reading long-form fiction on Pratilipi, a digital storytelling platform. “There were days when I’d start a book post lunch and finish it by midnight," he recalls. New to reading, Agarwal was surprised to discover the addictive joy in captivating stories and the fictional world of romance and love stories.
Soon, Agarwal took a plunge and decided to publish his own stories on the platform, a transition quite common on Pratilipi which has an active community of 1.5 million writers and 6.5 million monthly readers. The startup is a user-generated content platform that allows authors to publish their long-form content in multiple Indian languages. Founded in 2014 and backed by investors like Tencent, Nexus Ventures and Alteria Capital, Pratilipi recently reached a milestone of being cash-flow positive in July 2024.
Pratilipi’s revenue in 2023-24 rose by 66% to ₹58 crore, from ₹35 crore the year before.The net loss narrowed by 62% to ₹58 crore last year. Overall, the company has raised $80 million in funding over seven rounds. But the company cannot be measured by its finances alone.
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