Chai Bisket, a digital content company based in South India, has raised US$5 million in a seed funding round led by InfoEdge Ventures and General Catalyst.

The funding will be used to launch Chai Shots, a mobile-first OTT platform that offers short-form fiction content.

Founded in 2015 by Sharath Chandra and Anurag Reddy, Chai Bisket has established a presence in regional content.

The team has been joined by Krishna Mohan Varma, who will oversee technology development for the platform.

The company has accumulated over 2 billion views across its platforms.

It has also produced theatrical films, web series, and short dramas, including the film Major.

The platform targets younger audiences and users in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India, focusing on personal and mobile-friendly viewing experiences.

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🔗 Source: Chai Shots

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ India’s regional OTT market is a high-growth opportunity backed by demographic shifts

Chai Bisket’s strategic focus on regional microdramas taps into India’s explosive growth in localized content consumption, which now constitutes nearly 30% of total streaming viewership 1.

This approach aligns perfectly with India’s digital demographics. The country has 806 million internet users, with 96% accessing content via mobile devices, creating massive demand for mobile-optimized entertainment 2.

The timing is particularly strategic as India’s OTT market is projected to reach ₹345,000 crore ($41 billion) by 2028, with a user base of 547 million by 2024, showing the enormous scale of the opportunity 3.

By targeting Gen Z in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities with Telugu content before expanding to other languages, Chai Shots is positioning itself at the intersection of two powerful trends: youth-driven consumption and regional content preference.

Chai Bisket’s decade of experience in regional content gives them a significant advantage in understanding cultural nuances that global players often miss when attempting to create authentic local content.

2️⃣ The ultra-short format addresses evolving mobile consumption patterns

The two-minute episode format adopted by Chai Shots directly responds to the documented shift in viewing habits, with users now spending an average of 2 hours and 28 minutes on social media daily consuming bite-sized content 2.

This shift toward shorter attention spans has been validated by platforms like TikTok, which has over 200 million users in India alone, demonstrating the massive appetite for quick-consumption content 4.

Market projections indicate that by 2025, mobile-first viewing will account for 70% of content consumed, making Chai Shots’ format well-positioned for future consumption patterns 5.

The approach of delivering premium fiction in ultra-short formats represents an evolution from user-generated short videos to professionally produced micro-entertainment, potentially creating a new category in India’s content ecosystem.

By creating content “for individuals on the move, personal, portable, and deeply cultural,” Chai Shots is differentiating from traditional OTT platforms that primarily target family viewing in home environments.

3️⃣ Content company to tech platform evolution represents a strategic business model shift

Chai Bisket’s transition from a content creator to a technology platform mirrors successful evolutions seen globally, where content expertise becomes the foundation for building proprietary distribution channels 6.

The company’s addition of Krishna Mohan Varma as Co-Founder to lead technology vision signals a commitment to building technical infrastructure rather than simply licensing content to existing platforms.

This vertical integration strategy allows Chai Bisket to capture more value from its content by owning both production and distribution, similar to how larger media companies have adapted to digital disruption 7.

The company’s experience producing short dramas since 2021 gives them first-mover advantage in understanding both creative and technical requirements for this format.

The impressive roster of tech founders as angel investors (including Swiggy, redBus, Darwinbox, and Rapido co-founders) suggests strong confidence in the technology-driven approach from experienced entrepreneurs who have successfully built platforms in other sectors.

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