Pocket FM, an audio streaming platform, is in advanced talks to raise over $80 million in a new funding round led by Lightspeed, while Pakistan-based local mobility services startup BusCaro has secured $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Orbit Startups.
Pocket FM set to raise over $80m: report
Pocket FM, an audio streaming platform, is in advanced talks to raise over $80 million in a new funding round led by Lightspeed, TechCrunch reported on Thursday.
Lightspeed is considering financing the funding round from both its India and US units. The talks have valued the startup at around $800 million, added the report citing sources.
Pocket FM had secured $16 million in debt funding from US-based Silicon Valley Bank, in May this year.
The startup also raised $65 million in its Series C funding round led by Goodwater Capital, Naver, and existing investor Tanglin Venture Partners in March 2022.
Founded in 2018 by IIT-Kharagpur graduates Rohan Nayak and Nishanth Srinivas, Pocket FM is an online marketplace for audio shows and podcasts. The startup claims to offer 100,000+ hours of long-format content, audio shows, stories, novels, podcasts, and knowledge shows in eight languages.
BusCaro bags $1.5m in pre-seed funding
Pakistan-based local mobility services startup BusCaro has secured $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Orbit Startups.
Founded in 2022 by Maha Shahzad, BusCaro aims to provide safe, reliable and accessible commute at affordable prices.
The startup had secured $500,000 in angel investment in 2022 from lan Rutledge, Tehseen Consulting, Alexander Hanhikoski, Märt Kelder, Safee Shah (former country head for Uber Pakistan), Kash Rehman, Yusuf Jan (one of the early investors in Airlift when it was a mobility startup), Adeel Habib, and Aemad Mehdi.
Orbit backs startups across emerging and frontier markets in Southeast and South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas. It invests through its fund SOSV, a US-based venture capital firm with $1.5 billion in assets under management.
The firm has also backed Pakistani agritech firm EasyFresh, Nigeria-based fintech firm InfiniteUp, Bangladesh edutech platform Ostad, Colombian neobank Ubanku, Indonesian firms Flokq and Jagofon.