Sequoia raised ~$10B in new funds, and announces it is shutting down its Arc accelerator and Scouts program, merging its early-stage and growth teams, and more (Connie Loizos/TechCrunch)

India-based EloElo has raised $80 million in a Series C funding round from Hornbill Capital and NBCUniversal. According to TechCrunch, this investment brings the company's total fundraising to $130 million and establishes a $500 million valuation.

The company's Story TV microdrama app has an estimated 33 million active users and features a catalog of over 5,000 titles in six languages. TechCrunch reports that the platform was founded in 2020 by former Flipkart executive Saurabh Pandey. Due to the snackable nature of the content, users log an average of 95 minutes on the app through multiple daily sessions.

The funding comes as the serialized microdrama format gains popularity in India, where more than 118 million users watch such content every month. TechCrunch notes that analysts expect the industry to reach between $3 billion and $4 billion in annual revenue by 2030.

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