Summary
- Lal Chand Bisu grew up in a Rajasthan village, left Toppr in 2018 and launched Kuku FM with two IIT Jodhpur batchmates.
- Kuku Technologies reported ₹182.7 crore net profit in FY26, but ₹98.2 crore came from a deferred tax credit and marketing took ₹1,105.1 crore.
- SEBI issued its observation letter on 11 September 2026. The IPO is reported at ₹2,500-3,500 crore, with price band and dates yet to be announced.
Lal Chand Bisu grew up speaking Shekhawati in a village in Rajasthan’s Sikar district, and he first spoke Hindi with classmates in town. Today he is CEO of a company that reported ₹1,484.2 crore in operating revenue for FY26 (about $155 million, at ₹95.7 to the dollar, the rate implied by Inc42’s October 2026 conversion of the IPO size). This Kuku FM founder story is about how that happened, and about what the headline numbers leave out.
In this story (about 10 minutes)
Table of Contents
A village in Sikar and a first-batch seat at IIT Jodhpur
Bisu was born in Bathot, a village in Sikar district, and the family lived on a farm outside it, he told The Ken’s First Principles podcast in April 2026. He went to the village school until Class 10. Everyone around him spoke Shekhawati, so Hindi was a language he read, not one he spoke.
He moved to Sikar town for Classes 11 and 12. That is where he started speaking Hindi with other people. IIT Jodhpur followed in 2008, in its first batch, and English came with it. He graduated in 2012. A company press release hosted by Vertex Ventures also described him as a farmer’s son who took the IIT entrance exam in Hindi.
His parents, he said, left the big decisions to him after Class 10. His mother never went to school, and his father studied up to about Class 4 or 5. He still carried an education loan when he chose a startup over a job. Looking back, he told The Ken, he would not recommend that path.
The Ken’s notes for the same episode add a detail that fits the company he built. Bisu remembers his grandmother telling stories in the evenings by oil lamp, the first storyteller in his life.
He also said his view of language changed. As a student, he recalled, Shekhawati ranked below Hindi and English in status. Today he feels more respect for it than he did then.
EasyPrep, Toppr and the itch to start again
After graduating, Bisu started EasyPrep, a bootstrapped test-prep and education content company. Vinod Kumar Meena was his co-founder there too. Bisu says it grew from zero to ₹20 lakh a month in revenue in about two years, then stalled in year three.
In 2015, Toppr made a small acqui-hire offer. Bisu stayed about two and a half years and calls the stint frustrating. He had learned how marketing, hiring and fundraising worked, but the payout arrived in instalments over three years and he wanted to build again.
He left in 2018 and took a six-month break. Vikas Goyal, Meena’s batchmate and the trio’s former roommate, joined for the next attempt. YourStory reported in 2020 that Goyal had led engineering for Toppr Doubts. As of March 2026, Bisu is CEO, Meena is COO and Goyal is CTO.
What kept the three together for roughly 17 or 18 years? Bisu named two things: a shared wish to build something that reaches hundreds of millions of people, and clear roles from day zero. At EasyPrep, he says, they got that wrong. At Kuku, they settled who leads before writing a line of code.
A podcast app nobody wanted, then a quality bar
Kuku FM went live on 20 June 2018 as a podcast platform. It hosted about 100 public podcasts, most pulled from open RSS feeds. After three or four months, Bisu says, the team concluded that Bharat’s mass Hindi audience simply didn’t listen to podcasts.
The next attempt was user-generated audio, a Twitter-like feed for voices. It failed too. Bisu’s explanation is simple: with video, the eyes can forgive weak sound. With audio, listeners have only one sense to judge by, so poor quality sends them away at once.
So the team switched to professionally produced content, checked against a list of 20 to 30 quality points before anything went live. Bisu doesn’t call these moves pivots. He counts eight to ten early iterations, with one constant: audio.
How did they learn so fast? Early on, the app had a call button. Any team member’s phone could ring when a user pressed it. Callers were mostly unhappy, but they were all willing to talk, and the team asked about content, family, income and what they’d pay for.
“There was a huge gap in India for audio consumption.”
Lal Chand Bisu, to YourStory, October 2020
The 399 rupee bet on Bharat
In January 2021, Kuku FM charged for the first time: ₹399 a year, paid upfront. The conventional advice, Bisu says, was to grow free users first. He also ruled out ads, arguing that Indian digital advertising is dominated by Google and Meta.
Before deciding, the team asked about 5,000 users whether they’d pay. More than 80% said yes, a figure Bisu himself didn’t believe. They went ahead on a gut call. Within six months, he says, paid conversion in Hindi reached about 10%, against a global norm he put at 3% to 5%. That is the founder’s own account, and StartupIndiaX has not verified it.
Pricing has moved since. In 2024 Kuku shifted from annual to monthly plans at about ₹100. Today, Bisu says, it sells around ₹499 a quarter, tracking telecom recharge prices. He points to Jio Hotstar, which also defaults to a quarterly plan, as proof that familiar price points reduce a buyer’s doubts.
Scale followed. Entrepreneur India reported in 2023 that Kuku FM claimed more than 2.5 million paid subscribers. As of June 2026, Business Standard reported the company claims over 10 million active paying subscribers across Kuku FM, Kuku TV and Guru. Bisu says content spending rose from about ₹10 crore a year in 2023-24 to more than ₹200 crore (about $21 million) now.
“For the user, content is the only product.”
Lal Chand Bisu, CEO, Kuku, on The Ken’s First Principles podcast, April 2026
Who backed Kuku FM, and how much
Bisu says his first cheque came from India Quotient, followed within months by 3one4 Capital. In the years after, he says, he raised about six rounds and heard roughly 50 refusals for every yes. Many were implied: investors went quiet. He says he would rather hear a direct no.
Vertex Ventures led the $5.5 million Series A in February 2020. A $21.8 million Series B followed, dated March 2022 by Caplight. In September 2023, Fundamentum and IFC joined a $25 million round, with IFC investing $10 million. In October 2025, Granite Asia led an $85 million round. Bisu confirmed to TechCrunch that it valued Kuku at around $500 million, more than double the previous valuation.
Inc42 puts total funding above $156 million as of October 2026. Sources do not fully agree. The Ken’s episode page carries a correction: Bisu cited $170 million in the interview, and the company later said the correct figure was $120 million. StartupIndiaX uses the media tally and has not verified either number.
Read More: Funding Round Dilution Calculator
Kuku TV, Dhoni and the move beyond audio
Audio was cheap to make and cheap to stream, Bisu told The Ken. Video costs far more on both counts. What changed his math was AI. Around 2022 and 2023, he says, Kuku used AI tools to lift its ad output from about 500 videos a month to 5,000 at the same cost. That gave the team the confidence to try video.
Kuku TV, a vertical-video microdrama app, launched in 2025, according to Mint. Bisu told TechCrunch in October 2025 that it accounted for over 60% of Kuku’s total usage. The Ken described it as the number one app on India’s App Store for 30 straight days. That is The Ken’s claim, and StartupIndiaX has not verified it.
Why a separate app? Bisu called it a business decision. Once Kuku advertised video inside an audio app, users got confused, and people who had decided they couldn’t focus on audio stayed away. A learning app, Guru, followed as a third product.
On 30 March 2026, MS Dhoni announced he had invested in Kuku and become Kuku TV’s brand ambassador. The stake wasn’t disclosed.
“…the platform really stood out to me.”
MS Dhoni, announcing his Kuku investment, 30 March 2026, via Indian Television
Kuku now competes with Pocket FM, Flick TV, ReelSaga and Miniplix, plus larger players such as Amazon, JioHotstar and Zee5, ChannelIAM reported in September 2026.
FY26: a profit with footnotes
Inc42 reported on 3 October 2026 that Kuku Technologies swung to a net profit of ₹182.7 crore (about $19 million) in FY26, from a ₹152.6 crore (about $16 million) loss in FY25. Operating revenue rose to ₹1,484.2 crore from ₹241.6 crore. StartupIndiaX has not independently verified these figures.
Read the footnotes. Inc42 says a deferred tax credit of ₹98.2 crore (about $10 million) helped the bottom line. Excluding the credit and a ₹4 crore tax expense, profit was ₹88.6 crore (about $9 million). At the operating level, EBITDA was ₹82.9 crore, against a ₹159.8 crore loss a year earlier.
Subscriptions brought in ₹1,475.4 crore, more than 99% of operating revenue. Pay-per-piece purchases added ₹6.9 crore and advertising ₹1.9 crore. India accounted for ₹1,463.6 crore.
Spending grew faster than almost anything else. Marketing and advertising hit ₹1,105.1 crore (about $116 million), roughly 78% of ₹1,421.8 crore in total expenses and nearly four times FY25’s ₹284.8 crore. By StartupIndiaX’s arithmetic, that equals about 74 paise for every rupee of operating revenue. Employee costs rose about 24% to ₹74.1 crore.
Our reading, as editorial analysis: Kuku bought growth and was still profitable. The open question is whether engagement holds if marketing slows. Bisu’s own test, he told The Ken, is a combined check, which he calls the full equation, that weighs revenue, acquisition cost, lifetime value and cohort profit together, plus time spent on content.
A note on conflicting numbers. FY25 revenue appears as ₹241.6 crore (operating) and ₹258.4 crore (Inc42 Datalabs, which looks like total income). FY24 appears as ₹87.9 crore in some reports and about ₹104 crore in earlier ones.
Rival lawsuits and subscription complaints
Kuku’s biggest rival is also its most persistent opponent in court. On 10 July 2025, the Delhi High Court restrained Kuku FM’s then-parent, Mebigo Labs, from releasing new episodes of five disputed series. Bar & Bench named them as Shivay, Jobless Ghar Jamai, Immortal Yodha, The Legend of Amrapali and Avataar. Pocket FM alleged copyright and trademark infringement and sought ₹85.7 crore in damages. The order ran until a hearing on 29 August 2025.
Bisu has said Pocket FM files suits whenever Kuku raises money, he told TechCrunch in October 2025. He had earlier accused Pocket FM of a smear campaign, which Pocket FM denied, BestMediaInfo reported. These are allegations and counter-allegations. StartupIndiaX has not found a reported outcome after the August 2025 hearing, so the case should be treated as unresolved.
The fight runs both ways. In 2022, Kuku’s parent sued Pocket FM over a Hindi audiobook of Mossad. Pocket FM removed the title, telling the court it had published it on the assumption that the book was in the public domain, LiveLaw reported in November 2022.
There is a second, quieter issue. App-review roundups, including a 2026 piece by Unstar, and Trustpilot reviewers describe disputes over free trials, autopay and refunds. Unstar’s verdict was that the app is fine and the exit is the problem. These are user complaints, not findings, and StartupIndiaX did not find a company response. They matter because subscriptions are more than 99% of revenue.
The IPO, and what is still unknown
This is a developing story. Kuku filed a confidential draft red herring prospectus with SEBI on 4 June 2026. SEBI issued its observation letter on 11 September 2026, Kotak Neo and ChannelIAM reported. The company has 18 months from approval to launch, according to Indian Television.
Reports put the IPO at ₹2,500-3,500 crore ($261-366 million per Inc42), mixing a fresh issue with an offer for sale. Proceeds would go to technology, AI infrastructure, content production and expansion. Reported valuation is up to ₹15,000 crore. Inc42 and Entrepreneur India convert that to about $1.8 billion. At ₹95.7 to the dollar it is about $1.57 billion, roughly three times the October 2025 figure.
As of the reports reviewed in October 2026, no price band, bidding dates or listing date had been announced. Kuku declined to comment on IPO plans when Business Standard asked in June.
Net worth: why there is no verified number
Searches for Bisu’s net worth return aggregator “estimates” that span ₹0 to over ₹1,000 crore. That is too wide to mean anything, and StartupIndiaX is not repeating it.
What is reported: a company valuation of around $500 million in October 2025, and an IPO valuation target of up to ₹15,000 crore. Those are company figures, not personal wealth. Bisu’s shareholding isn’t disclosed in the sources reviewed. If the prospectus is made public, it should answer this.
Read More: Startup Valuation Calculator
Kuku FM founder story, in dates
What founders can take from Bisu’s playbook
Let feedback come to you. The call button flipped the usual problem. Instead of chasing users who ignored surveys, the team heard from people who wanted to talk, and asked them what they’d pay.
Test willingness to pay, then distrust the flattering number. Eighty per cent said yes, and Bisu didn’t believe it. The real test was charging ₹399 upfront and seeing who stayed.
Set a quality floor early. User-generated audio failed because listeners can’t hide weak sound behind visuals. Professionally produced content, checked against a list, became the product.
Price where trust already exists. Kuku followed telecom and Jio Hotstar price points rather than inventing new ones, because first-time payers in smaller towns worry about being cheated.
Read growth against its cost. FY26 shows both sides. Revenue grew more than sixfold. About 74 paise of each revenue rupee went to marketing. That is editorial analysis, and the IPO prospectus will show whether the equation holds.
Bisu’s own rule is to keep the founder’s brand a step behind the company’s. That makes this a rare story to tell from public sources, and a useful one. If you’re building a subscription product for non-metro India, tell us in the comments which of his calls you would have made differently. For more profiles like this, browse the Founder Stories section on StartupIndiaX.
FAQs
Who founded Kuku FM?
Kuku FM was founded in 2018 by Lal Chand Bisu (CEO), Vinod Kumar Meena (COO) and Vikas Goyal (CTO), all IIT Jodhpur alumni. Bisu says the app first appeared on the app store on 20 June 2018. The parent is now Kuku Technologies.
Is Kuku FM profitable?
Kuku Technologies reported a net profit of ₹182.7 crore in FY26, against a ₹152.6 crore loss in FY25, according to Inc42 (3 October 2026). A ₹98.2 crore deferred tax credit helped; profit excluding it was ₹88.6 crore.
How does Kuku FM make money?
Almost entirely from paid subscriptions. Of ₹1,484.2 crore in FY26 operating revenue, ₹1,475.4 crore came from subscriptions, ₹6.9 crore from pay-per-piece purchases and ₹1.9 crore from advertising, per Inc42 (3 October 2026).
How much funding has Kuku FM raised?
Inc42 reports Kuku has raised over $156 million, including an $85 million round in October 2025 led by Granite Asia. Bisu told TechCrunch the round valued the company at around $500 million. Sources differ on exact totals.
Is the Kuku IPO approved?
SEBI issued its observation letter on 11 September 2026, clearing Kuku Technologies to proceed. Reports put the IPO at ₹2,500-3,500 crore. As of the latest reports reviewed (October 2026), the price band and dates were not disclosed.
What is Lal Chand Bisu’s net worth?
No credible figure exists. Aggregator estimates are too broad to use, and Bisu’s stake is not disclosed in the sources reviewed. What is reported: Kuku was valued at around $500 million in October 2025, and the IPO targets a valuation of up to ₹15,000 crore.
Why did Kuku FM launch Kuku TV as a separate app?
Bisu told The Ken (April 2026) it was a business decision. Advertising video for an audio app confused users and put off people who had decided they can’t focus on audio, so Kuku gave Kuku TV its own app.
Sources and disclosure
Story type: Public-source profile, built from reported news, filings as reported by media, and the founder’s own public interviews.
Sources
- Inc42, “IPO-Bound Kuku Technologies Turns Profitable In FY26, Revenue Surges 6X To ₹1,484 Cr”, 3 Oct 2026. https://inc42.com/buzz/ipo-bound-kuku-technologies-turns-profitable-in-fy26-revenue-surges-6x-to-%E2%82%B91484-cr/
- The Ken, “Kuku’s Lal Chand Bisu on charging Bharat ₹399 a year, the Bathoth-to-Bandra arc, and why nos beat yeses” (First Principles, episode 54), 27 Apr 2026. https://the-ken.com/podcasts/first-principles/kukus-lal-chand-bisu-on-charging-bharat-%e2%82%b9399-a-year-the-bathoth-to-bandra-arc-and-why-nos-beat-yeses/
- TechCrunch, “India’s Kuku snags $85M as mobile content wars intensify”, 15 Oct 2025. https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/15/indias-kuku-snags-85m-as-mobile-content-wars-intensify/
- Inc42, “Kuku FM Onboards MS Dhoni As Investor, Brand Ambassador”, Mar 2026. [URL to be confirmed]
- Indian Broadcasting World, “MS Dhoni invests in Kuku, becomes brand ambassador”, 30 Mar 2026. [URL to be confirmed]
- Indian Television, “MS Dhoni invests in Kuku, joins Kuku TV as brand ambassador”, Mar 2026. [URL to be confirmed]
- Entrepreneur India, “SEBI Greenlights Kuku Technologies’ INR 3,500 Cr IPO”, 18 Sep 2026. https://india.entrepreneur.com/business-news/sebi-greenlights-kuku-technologies-inr-3500-cr-ipo
- Kotak Neo, “Kuku Technologies IPO Plans Advance After SEBI Approval”, 19 Sep 2026. https://www.kotakneo.com/news/ipos/kuku-technologies-ipo-gets-sebi-approval-for-2500-3500-crore-issue/
- ChannelIAM, “Kuku Technologies SEBI IPO approval”, 18 Sep 2026. https://en.channeliam.com/2026/09/18/kuku-technologies-sebi-ipo-approval/
- Indian Television, “Kuku Technologies gets SEBI approval to proceed with confidential IPO filing”, Sep 2026. https://indiantelevision.com/iworld/kuku-technologies-gets-sebi-approval-to-proceed-with-confidential-ipo-filing/
- Entrepreneur India, “Kuku Files Confidential DRHP for Around INR 3,500 Cr IPO”, 4 Jun 2026. https://india.entrepreneur.com/business-news/kuku-files-confidential-drhp-for-around-inr-3500-cr-ipo
- Business Standard, “Kuku files confidentially for ₹3,500 cr IPO, eyes ₹15,000 cr valuation”, 4 Jun 2026. https://www.business-standard.com/markets/ipo/kuku-files-confidentially-for-rs-3500-crore-ipo-eyes-rs-15000-crore-valuation-126060400327_1.html
- YourStory, “This podcast startup by IIT alumni is revolutionising the traditional radio”, Oct 2020. https://yourstory.com/2020/10/iit-mumbai-podcast-startup-kuku-fm-3one4
- KrASIA, “Vertex Ventures lead USD 5.5 million Series A round in vernacular content startup Kuku FM”, 2020. [URL to be confirmed]
- Vertex Ventures, “Kuku FM raises $21.8 M in Series B funding”. [URL to be confirmed]
- Caplight, Kuku FM funding rounds (round dates). [URL to be confirmed]
- YourStory, “Kuku FM raises $25 million”, Sep 2023. https://nextjs-prod.yourstory.com/2023/09/funding-kuku-fm-25-million-fundamentum-ifc
- IFC, “Going Vocal for Local”, 2024. [URL to be confirmed]
- Entrepreneur India, “Kuku FM Raises $25 Million In Series C Funding”, 2023. [URL to be confirmed]
- Vertex Ventures, “KukuFM Crossed 1 Million active paying subscribers in India”. [URL to be confirmed]
- Mint (via Magzter), “Lal Chand Bisu: Pump up the volume”, 16 Aug 2025. https://www.magzter.com/fr/stories/newspaper/Mint-Bangalore/LAL-CHAND-BISU-PUMP-UP-THE-VOLUME
- Free Press Journal, “Kuku files confidential IPO papers”, Jun 2026. https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/kuku-files-confidential-ipo-papers-eyes-up-to-3500-crore-fundraise-at-15000-crore-valuation
- Bar & Bench, “Delhi High Court restrains Kuku FM from streaming 5 shows after Pocket FM alleges IP violation”, Jul 2025. https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/delhi-high-court-restrains-kuku-fm-from-streaming-5-shows-after-pocket-fm-alleges-ip-violation
- BestMediaInfo, “Delhi HC restrains Kuku FM from releasing new episodes in copyright dispute with Pocket FM”, Jul 2025. https://bestmediainfo.com/mediainfo/mediainfo-digital/delhi-hc-restrains-kuku-fm-from-releasing-new-episodes-in-copyright-dispute-with-pocket-fm-9482937
- LiveLaw, “Pocket FM Takes Down Audiobook On Mossad After KuKu FM Approaches Delhi High Court”, 30 Nov 2022. https://livelaw.in/news-updates/pocket-fm-removes-audiobook-on-mossad-after-kuku-fm-approaches-delhi-high-court-against-copyright-infringement-215416
- Unstar, “Is Kuku FM Legit & Worth It? What Users Say (2026)”. https://unstar.app/blog/is-kuku-fm-legit-worth-it-audiobook-app-reviews-2026
- Trustpilot, Kuku FM (Mebigo Labs) reviews. https://nl-be.trustpilot.com/review/kukufm.com
- Entrackr, “Kuku FM reports Rs 240 Cr revenue in FY25”, Dec 2025. [URL to be confirmed]
- Inc42 Datalabs, Kuku FM company profile.
AI-assistance note: This article was drafted with AI assistance and reviewed and fact-checked by StartupIndiaX Editorial Team.
Corrections: Spotted an error? Email corrections@startupindiax.com and we will review and update the article.
Written by StartupIndiaX Editorial Team, StartupIndiaX writer covering Indian startups, founders, and entrepreneurship.
