Success Journey of Kuku FM who disrupt the podcast industry
If you’re looking for the best in diverse audiobooks and stories, look no further than Kuku FM, a podcast platform accessible from anywhere in the world. The company is headquartered in Mumbai and was founded by Lal Chand Bisu, Vinod Meena, and Vikas Goyal in 2018. Â
Kuku FM aims to change how people listen to the radio by providing a non-music audio platform that is just as engaging as a music platform while also being highly informative and influential.
What does Kuku FM serve?
According to its About page, non-music audio platform Kuku FM features podcasts and long-form audio content in various categories, including education, entertainment, news, mythology, spirituality, learning and inspirations, stories, poems, and even jingles. Kuku FM claims that its website is suitable for people of all ages, although according to Bisu, the site’s primary demographic is people aged 18 to 40.
Most of Kuku FM’s programming is in Hindi, which may explain why its listeners are concentrated in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Bisu, however, added that the platform has successfully attracted users in Maharashtra and Hindi-speaking states.
Kuku FM employs a rudimentary manual recommendation system to increase user interaction with the platform. The startup, however, claims to have begun testing machine learning-based recommendation models that might make Kuku FM an exciting venue.
Meena elaborated, “Our mission is to democratize audio content by enabling creators to monetize their content, expand their audience, and connect with their fans through our platform by providing production, distribution, and marketing support.”
As we discussed how to make money from the podcasting service, Bisu stated that pre-seed funds have been secured and that monetization plans for Kuku FM will be made public in the coming quarters.
The Incredible Rise of Kuku FM
Over two million people are now paying subscribers to Kuku FM. In the first 18 months after its launch, the company made $1,000,000; in the following four months, it made another $1,000,000 in sales.
After its release, users spent an average of 40 minutes listening to the platform’s content. Comparable platforms at the time had only about 20 minutes. Each of the company’s original three founders appeared on Forbes’s “30 Under 30” list for advertising, marketing, or media careers.
Lal Chand Bisu, Vinod Meena, and Vikas Goyal, the company’s three founders, all attended and graduated from IIT Jodhpur with computer science and engineering degrees—former software engineers at the online learning portal Toppr, where they met before launching Kuku FM.
What sparked the idea for Kuku FM
Standard, old-fashioned radio with music is what everyone tunes into. In other words, the same old thing. Kuku FM was developed due to the pressing need to improve time management in India. We spend so much time online that we forget what it’s like to have a life away from our screens.
Kuku FM was made for how people spend their time away from their phones. Kuku FM CEO Lal Chand Bisu adds, “Our vision is to improve the off-screen time.” He claims he wanted to start a business to assist others in having better, more joyful lives.
His motivation to make the most of his ‘off screen’ time came from listening to podcasts, and he set out to replicate that feeling for everyone.
As a result, the co-founders were eager to find a solution to the issue at hand. However, they wondered if their target demographic would be receptive to their proposals. Then, they did a quick survey to get their feedback and were blown away by the answer.
Why is Kuku FM Different?
A PWC analysis found that at the end of 2018, the number of Indians who actively listened to podcasts once per month had increased to 40 million from 25.8 million.
Most of these listeners prefer Spotify, YouTube Music, or Gaana due to their extensive libraries, but they can only access songs in Hindi or English. By 2020, in addition to Hindi and English, Kuku FM hopes to release podcasts in five other languages.
Possible competitive advantage over other large music streaming services. Bisu asserted, “We know what content will work and how it should be delivered,” which would make the company a frontrunner in the target languages.
Final Words
The CEO further asserted that Kuku FM has high listener retention since it provides a medium for organizations like Quora and Dainik Bhaskar to publish podcasts using their content. It aids Kuku FM in providing informative and engaging material to its audience.
