Former ShareChat Executives’ Microdrama App Flick TV Bags $2.3 Mn

Noida-based microdrama OTT platform Flick TV has raised $2.3 Mn (INR 19.7 Cr) in a seed funding round led by Stellaris Venture Partners, with participation from Gemba Capital and Titan Capital.

Flick TV cofounder and chief executive Kushal Singhal told Inc42 that the fresh proceeds would be deployed to scale up its content production. “The plan is to come up with 100 originals this year, while also launching content in four regional languages.”

Additionally, the startup will use the capital to optimise its streaming experience on smartphones and expand team as well as user base.

For the uninitiated, microdrama refers to a scripted, serialised story told in extremely short episodes, ranging from 30 seconds to 10 minutes. These episodes are typically optimised for mobile viewing and distributed through platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Pocket FM, Kuku FM and various OTT apps.

How Flick TV Is Setting The Narrative In Microdrama Space

Launched in April this year by former ShareChat executives Singhal and Sanidhya Mittal, with former Pocket FM senior director Pratik Anand, Flick TV aims to address the gap of narrating stories to audiences who consume enormous amounts of snackable content online.

Currently, the startup incubates four production houses to generate content for its audience, Singhal said.

On Google Play Store app, Flick TV has more than 10,000 downloads till date. It competes with platforms such as Reelies, Kuku and ReelSaga in the short-form video content space.

Singhal further said that the platform is primarily targeting housewives and shopkeepers as its audience, who prefer to consume content across categories such as love, heartbreak, drama, crime, fiction and fantasy.

He further added that the app generates its revenue via micropayment model, where users pay a small fee based on the number of episodes they want to watch per day. “And as users develop more trust on the platform, we will switch them to monthly and quarterly payment plans,” he added.

Microdrama’s Rising Wave Of Buzz

Content has been shaping the consumption habits of users online. OTT platforms have fueled a boom in binge-watching among audiences across various age groups. 

However, the shrinking attention span of users led to growing user traction for short-form video content, where apps such as YouTube and Instagram practically began observing more traffic in Shorts and Reels, respectively.

Short-form video content which initially revolved around categories such as beauty, travel, health, fitness and comedy, is now growing to include entertainment content in the form of episodes.

The development comes at a time when investors have been betting on entertainment platforms being built in the microdrama segment to develop new content and boost new trends of consumption today.

For instance, ReelSaga raised $2.1 Mn (around INR 17.9 Cr) in a seed funding round about a month ago, to fuel app development and produce high-quality, localised content.

The global microdrama market, built on ultra-short, mobile-first fiction, stood at $6.54 Bn in 2024 and is projected to hit nearly $12 Bn by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 10.5%.