Vinod Kumar Meena, COO and Co-Founder of Kuku, said, “India is such a hotbed of stories around culture, tradition, science, spirituality, fiction and more. So why has India not emerged as a soft power in storytelling? If you look at South Korea then KDramas and Kpop have become such an important part of their economy.
With a catalog featuring more than 100,000 hours of audio stories and hundreds of microdramas across eight languages, Kuku has built a sizable content library comparable to leading streaming platforms.
The company introduced microdramas to a broader Indian audience with the launch of its video OTT arm, Kuku TV, in September 2024. Since then, it has become a significant player in the microdrama space. With over 5 million active paying users across both audio and video offerings, Kuku has set its sights on increasing its user base in India, aiming to eventually exceed Netflix’s subscriber count in the country.
Given we are the largest entertainment industry in the world, stories and storytelling should be our soft power and our biggest cultural export. There is immense potential in this to not only become a major contributor to our creative economy but also help create new jobs, opportunities and talent in the industry. We have hundreds of thousands of titles in our library which we want to take to the world this year.”
Kuku’s content spans genres such as entertainment, education, spirituality, sci-fi, and fiction, with offerings tailored for a wide range of audiences. The company’s international approach emphasizes an understanding of local cultures and preferences. In the US, the platform is focusing on connecting with the Indian diaspora, particularly those who speak Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.In South East Asia, Kuku sees an opportunity to engage audiences already familiar with Bollywood and Indian TV serials, especially in countries where mobile devices are the primary way people access content. The Philippines and Indonesia are early focus markets.“For us, it’s more than just scaling; it’s about bringing a piece of home to Indians living abroad. We want them to hear familiar voices and stories, no matter how far they are from their roots,” shared Vinod Kumar Meena.
In South Korea, Kuku hopes to reach a tech-savvy audience with a strong appetite for immersive narratives, similar to those found in K-dramas. With a budding interest in Indian stories, the platform aims to discover new ways to engage and grow its viewer and listener base.
