Digital storytelling startup Pratilipi aims to close FY25 with an annual revenue run rate (ARR) of Rs 110 crore and targets an ARR of Rs 180 crore in FY26, with plans for an IPO in January 2026.
“There may be small deviations depending on market conditions, but the primary reason for listing is to provide liquidity to our earlier investors and team members, as well as to build a broader shareholder base,” Ranjeet Pratap Singh, co-founder and CEO of Pratilipi, told FE.
Pratilipi’s operational revenue rose to Rs 57.85 crore in FY24, up from Rs 34.89 crore in FY23, while its losses narrowed to Rs 58.13 crore in FY24, down from Rs 152.64 crore in FY23. The startup also became profitable in July 2024. For the next 12 months, Pratilipi plans to prioritise growth over profitability, intending to shift back to profitability as it approaches its IPO. “We are now at a stage where we can become profitable whenever we want by reducing forward-looking investments or expenditures,” Singh added.
Founded in 2014 by Ranjeet Pratap Singh, Sahradayi Modi, and Sankaranarayanan Devarajan, Pratilipi is an online self-publishing platform connecting readers and writers in 12 languages. The Bengaluru-based startup has raised $80 million to date and is backed by Krafton, Omidyar Network India, Nexus Venture Partners, Alteria Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, and Tencent. Its last funding round was in June 2021, a $48 million Series D led by South Korean gaming giant Krafton. This capital has primarily been used to enhance technology infrastructure, develop IP across multiple formats and drive marketing and growth.
Over the next year, Pratilipi will focus on scaling monetisation for its core online literature product. “Our current revenue payback period for literature is about 1.5 months, and we aim to extend this to about 6 months,” Singh explained. The startup is also aggressively expanding Pratilipi FM, its audio stories product, which it expects to grow by over 500% in the next 12 months. Additionally, it plans to invest significantly in Pratilipi Comics once it reaches the scale needed for high-quality comic production. Singh highlighted Westland Books and IVM Podcasts, two acquisitions, stating, “Both are more stable businesses that will grow at a 30-40% pace.” IVM currently generates approximately Rs 70 lakh per month in revenue and is profitable, while Westland Books brings in around Rs 1.2 crore monthly and is expected to turn profitable within three years.
In the long term, Pratilipi aims to become a global platform, with initial experiments in West Asian countries and the US planned within the next 3-6 months. In addition to existing formats, Pratilipi sees strong potential in animation and motion comics. “We have already conducted experiments with titles like Murdo Ki Train, Shaitani Rasmein, Fasal, and Ishqa, and plan to significantly increase our efforts in this area,” Singh shared. He is also enthusiastic about illustrated comics and graphic novels, which Pratilipi recently started publishing in collaboration between Pratilipi Comics and Westland Books.