Dhoni backing a startup — and it's not what you'd expect
MS Dhoni is one of India's most commercially careful celebrities. He doesn't attach his name to every startup that comes asking. His brand associations tend to be long-term, strategic, and genuinely connected to things he cares about. So when Kuku FM announced that Dhoni is joining as both an investor and the brand ambassador for Kuku TV — its microdrama app — it's worth paying attention.
This isn't a celebrity-slaps-face-on-an-app deal. Dhoni has taken an equity stake in the company. He's now a co-investor alongside KRAFTON (the company behind PUBG Mobile), Vertex Growth Fund, International Finance Corporation, Tribe Capital India, and others. When someone puts money in alongside institutional investors of that calibre, the association is serious.
What is Kuku FM, and what is Kuku TV?
Kuku FM started in 2018, founded by Lal Chand Bisu, Vinod Kumar Meena, and Vikas Goyal — all founders from small towns, which Dhoni has publicly said resonated with him personally. The original product is an audio content platform: audiobooks, podcasts, original audio shows across Hindi, English, Tamil, Bengali, and more.
Over time, Kuku built out a whole suite of products. Kuku FM is the audio app. Guru is an edutainment app for learning content. And the newest addition is Kuku TV — a microdrama platform, which is basically short-format video dramas. Think of it as Instagram Reels-length storytelling, but serialised — each episode is short, there's a cliffhanger, you keep watching. It's a format that's taken off massively in China (where apps like ReelShort pioneered it) and is now landing in India.
Dhoni's ambassador role is specifically for Kuku TV, not the whole Kuku ecosystem. That's a deliberate positioning — the microdrama segment is where the growth story is right now, and Dhoni's mass appeal across India, especially in smaller cities and towns, fits that audience exactly.
The numbers are actually impressive
35 crore installs across Kuku's platforms. That's 350 million. For context, that puts it in the conversation with some of India's most-used consumer apps. The content library has over 20,000 titles across seven languages. Several individual shows have crossed 10 crore views. Kuku TV specifically has crossed 18 crore (180 million) downloads since its launch.
The company raised ₹700 crore ($85 million) in its Series C round in October 2025, led by Granite Asia, and has raised over $156 million in total. It's currently classified as a soonicorn — a startup approaching unicorn ($1 billion) valuation — and is reportedly gearing up for a $200 million IPO with Kotak Mahindra Capital, Axis Bank, and Morgan Stanley appointed as bankers.
That IPO hasn't happened yet — Kuku still needs to convert to a public entity as the first formal step. But the trajectory is clearly pointing toward a public listing.
Why Dhoni? Why now?
Dhoni hails from Ranchi — not a metro, not a tier-1 city. His entire appeal is rooted in the idea that talent and hustle from smaller Indian towns can reach the top. Kuku's founders are from similar backgrounds, and the platform's content — in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, regional languages — is specifically built for India's non-metro audience. That's not incidental; that's the core user base.
Kuku TV's microdrama format is particularly suited to how people in tier-2 and tier-3 India consume content. Short episodes, offline-capable viewing, low data requirements — this is not designed for a Mumbai professional with a Netflix subscription. It's designed for someone in Madurai, Patna, or Nagpur who wants entertaining serialised content in their language on a budget smartphone.
Dhoni brings credibility with exactly that audience. He's not a metro-only celebrity. His fanbase spans every cricket-watching household in India, which is essentially every household. Having him front-facing for Kuku TV puts the app in front of hundreds of millions of people who've never heard of it.
The Dulquer Salmaan connection — and what it means for Tamil users
Here's something Tamil users specifically should note: Kuku FM appointed Dulquer Salmaan as its brand ambassador for South India in December 2024. DQ's involvement was specifically about driving regional presence — Tamil and Malayalam content on the platform.
So Kuku now has Dulquer for South India awareness and Dhoni for national reach and tier-2/3 penetration. That's a deliberate two-pronged ambassador strategy, not random celebrity acquisition. For Tamil users, both the content library and the brand representation are growing in your direction.
Kuku FM has Tamil-language content — audiobooks, podcasts, original shows. If you haven't explored it, the app is free to download with a freemium model (some content free, premium subscription for full access). Given the platform's growth and the IPO preparation, expect Tamil content investment to increase.
The microdrama segment — why everyone wants in
Microdrama is the format that's generating real numbers globally right now. Short episodes (2-5 minutes), serialised storylines, cliffhanger endings, designed for mobile consumption. ReelShort in the US has had episodes with more views than major Netflix originals. In China, platforms like DramaBox have generated billions in revenue.
India is the next battleground. The user base exists — 350 million+ active smartphone users who want local-language entertainment content. The infrastructure is there — Jio has made data cheap enough for video consumption across income levels. What was missing was a platform focused on Indian storytelling in Indian formats at Indian prices.
Kuku TV is positioned squarely there. And with Dhoni's name on it, the awareness campaign has a level of reach that no amount of digital advertising spend could replicate.
TamilTech's take
Dhoni investing in a content startup rather than a fintech or a D2C brand is interesting. It signals that he (or his investment team) sees real growth in Indian-language digital content — which is a bet on the next 300 million internet users in India who will come online in regional languages. The numbers Kuku has built — 350 million installs, 180 million Kuku TV downloads — aren't hype. They're real usage from real people who don't have other options in their language. The IPO timing also makes sense: Dhoni's association gives the brand a credibility boost right before the public listing process begins in earnest. For Tamil users specifically, between Dulquer and Dhoni, Kuku is clearly signalling that South India is a priority market — and that content investment in Tamil is coming. Worth keeping an eye on.
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