Kuku Technologies Clocks Rs 1,484 Crore Revenue and Rs 89 Crore Profit Before Tax in FY26, Splurges Rs 1,105 Crore on Marketing Ahead of Its IPO
Kuku FM's parent company, Kuku Technologies, has reported a remarkable turnaround in FY26, with operating revenue surging more than sixfold to Rs 1,484.2 crore, up from Rs 241.5 crore in FY25, a 514.6% jump that marks one of the sharpest growth curves in India's digital content space this year.
Here's what powered this growth. Subscription revenue alone contributed Rs 1,475.4 crore, accounting for more than 99% of total operating revenue, confirming that Kuku's core paywalled content model, spanning audio platform Kuku FM, microdrama app Kuku TV, and edutainment offering Guru, remains the business's real engine. Behind this scale-up sat an aggressive marketing push, the company spent Rs 1,105.1 crore on marketing and advertising in FY26, nearly four times the Rs 284.8 crore it spent the year before, making marketing by far its largest cost head.
The profitability story is where things get genuinely interesting. Kuku swung from an EBITDA loss of Rs 159.8 crore in FY25 to a positive EBITDA of Rs 82.9 crore in FY26, and posted a profit before tax of Rs 88.6 crore, compared to a loss the year before. Factoring in a Rs 98.1 crore deferred tax benefit, net profit came in even higher at Rs 182.7 crore. Overall expenditure rose 3.5X to Rs 1,421.7 crore from Rs 411 crore in FY25, but with heavy marketing spend directly translating into sixfold revenue growth, the company managed to absorb rising costs and still turn a genuine profit.
The timing makes complete sense. Kuku has confidentially filed for an IPO worth Rs 2,500-3,500 crore, targeting a valuation of around Rs 15,000 crore ($1.8 billion), a massive jump from the $500 million valuation it held when it last raised $85 million in October 2025. Founded in 2018 by IIT alumni Lal Chand Bisu, Vinod Kumar and Vikas Goyal, the company now counts over 10 million paying subscribers and more than 400 million total app downloads across its platforms, with Kuku TV alone releasing over 150 original shows a month and crossing 200 million downloads since its late-2024 launch.
A reality check worth flagging: this kind of profit, heavily cushioned by a deferred tax benefit, invites scrutiny on earnings quality even as the headline growth story looks genuinely strong, something IPO investors will likely dig into closely.
From a Rs 88 crore revenue company in FY24 to an IPO-bound business eyeing an $1.8 billion valuation in just two years, Kuku's rise captures exactly how fast India's regional content economy is scaling.
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— Sandeep Raiza