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Pratilipi operates as a digital self-publishing platform, fostering a vibrant virtual community that connects writers and readers across various languages. The platform provides a modern answer to traditional storytelling, democratizing access to literature and enabling content creation and consumption in 12 Indian regional languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Bengali. It aims to transcend linguistic boundaries and facilitate a cosmic connection through shared narratives.
The company was co-founded in 2014 by Sahradayi Modi, Sankaranaryanan Devarajan, Prashant Gupta, Rahul Ranjan, and Ranjeet Pratap Singh. Their foundational insight stemmed from observing the decline of traditional storytelling in the 20th century and the elitist nature of publishing, which limited access for many voices. Pratilipi was conceived to reverse this trend by creating an inclusive space for literary expression.
Pratilipi primarily serves a broad audience of both aspiring and established writers, alongside millions of readers seeking diverse stories in their native tongues. The company's overarching vision is to eradicate the exclusive perception of literature, championing language as an identity and a fundamental mode of expression. It strives to provide superior user experience and mobility, ensuring that being heard and understood remains a pathway to happiness.
Pratilipi has raised $67.3M across 3 funding rounds.
Pratilipi has raised $67.3M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Pratilipi has raised $67.3M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Pratilipi's investors include Sean Sohn, Battery Ventures, Bling Capital, KHOCEL INVEST, Qiming Venture Partners, Tiger Global Management, Alvin Tse, Anthony Citrano, Chuhan Wang, Kunal Shah, Roman Saini, Amit Agarwal.
Pratilipi is an Indian digital storytelling platform that enables users to read, write, and publish stories, poems, novels, articles, audiobooks, comics, and podcasts in 12 languages including Hindi, English, Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Urdu, Punjabi, and Odia.[2][3][4] Headquartered in Bengaluru, it serves millions of monthly active users—around 30 million consuming 600 million stories and 3.5 billion minutes monthly—primarily aspiring writers and readers seeking regional language content, solving the lack of accessible Indian language literature through a freemium model with premium subscriptions and monetization tools for creators.[1][3][5] The platform has demonstrated strong growth, expanding from 7-10 million MAUs in 2020 to 30 million users, with $79.7 million in funding and $15.7 million in 2024 revenue, while diversifying into audio, comics, web series, and print partnerships.[2][5]
Pratilipi was founded in 2014 (with some sources noting 2015 operations start) by Ranjeet Pratap Singh (CEO) and others under Nasadiya Technologies Private Limited in Bengaluru, emerging from the vision to fill India's gap in regional language storytelling where diverse populations lacked platforms for sharing native literature.[1][2][4][5] The idea stemmed from democratizing access for aspiring writers struggling for visibility and readers limited to English-dominated content, launching initially with Hindi and Gujarati before expanding to 12 languages.[2] Early traction included ₹30 lakh from TLabs in 2015, $1 million from Nexus Venture Partners in 2016, $4.3 million Series A from Omidyar Network in 2018 (by then hosting 80 million reads and 150,000 pieces from 22,000 authors), and ₹76 crore Series C from Tencent in 2020, coinciding with 20 million MAUs and launches of Pratilipi Comics and FM.[2]
Pratilipi rides the wave of India's digital content boom, fueled by rising smartphone penetration, vernacular internet growth (over 500 million non-English users), and demand for localized entertainment amid a $5 billion+ digital media market.[1][4] Its timing aligns with post-2020 surges in audio-visual formats and UGC platforms, expanding from text to comics, podcasts, and films to compete with global players like Wattpad while dominating regional niches.[2][5] Market forces like increasing creator economies and investments in Indian tech ($79.7 million raised) favor it, influencing the ecosystem by nurturing indie authors, partnering with publishers like Westland and IVM Podcasts, and piloting global expansion to export proven multilingual models.[2][4][5]
Pratilipi is poised for accelerated international growth, building on its $20 million Series E (2024?) from Jungle Ventures to scale US pilots in literature before audio/comics, targeting global vernacular storytelling markets.[4] Trends like AI personalization, short-form multimedia, and emerging markets' creator tools will shape its path, potentially evolving from India-first to a cross-geography powerhouse with 50+ million users. As digital natives demand inclusive narratives, Pratilipi could redefine self-publishing, amplifying voices beyond borders while sustaining its mission to democratize literature.[1][4][5]
Pratilipi has raised $67.3M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $48.0M Series D in July 2021.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2021 | $48M Series D | Sean Sohn | Battery Ventures, Bling Capital, KHOCEL INVEST, Qiming Venture Partners, Tiger Global Management, Alvin TSE, Anthony Citrano, Chuhan Wang, Kunal Shah, Roman Saini, Amit Agarwal, Gaurav Munjal, Hemesh Singh, Mekin Maheshwari, Nishith Rastogi, Ranjeet Pratap Singh, Vidit Aatrey, Omidyar Network India | Announced |
| Jun 6, 2019 | $15M Series B | Helen Wong | Pratik Poddar, Siddharth Nautiyal, Shunwei Capital, WEH Ventures | Announced |
| Feb 5, 2018 | $4.3M Series A | Siddharth Nautiyal | Atul Goel, Nexus Venture Partners, Shunwei Capital, Times Internet, WEH Ventures | Announced |
