Is Pratilipi’s Future In Physical Books?

After acquiring Westland Books from Amazon in 2022, the publishing business grew from less than ₹1 Cr monthly revenue to over ₹13 Cr, making it Pratilipi’s second-largest revenue stream today

Revenue grew from ₹35 Cr in FY23 to an expected ₹188 Cr in FY26, while losses have stablised

Instead of competing with Amazon, JioHotstar and other well-funded players, it creates and licenses content based on its story catalogue

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How often does a digital media startup buy a publishing house? And even if it does, does this tech startup, with its engineers and product managers, ever truly think that its future will lie in physical books? 

Even as the whole world seems to want to pay for microdramas, Pratilipi’s biggest moat might well be its acquisition of Westland Books from Amazon in 2022. 

Since then Westland has become the second largest revenue contributor for the startup, which began life as a platform where Indians could post online stories in their regional languages.   

“Today, Westland and physical books are already our second largest revenue stream. I think it has a chance of becoming the single largest revenue contributor by FY27 or FY28,” says Ranjeet Pratap Singh, cofounder and CEO of Pratilipi. 

“Today, Westland and physical books are already our second largest revenue stream. I think it has a chance of becoming the single largest revenue contributor by FY27 or FY28,” says Ranjeet Pratap Singh, cofounder and CEO of Pratilipi. 

This was not supposed to happen. The future was meant to be digital, but that narrative has fallen flat after the correction in the funding outlook for digital media in India. As a result, Pratilipi turned to other avenues. Here’s how Pratilipi’s future is changing and how it’s shaking off the losses of the past. 

The Surge And The Slowdown

Founded in 2014, the first few years of Pratilipi involved the typical cycle of acquiring new users, trying to retain them and growing engagement. And in the initial few years, there was a real appetite for regional language media platforms that can serve the audience beyond the metros. 

By 2020, the platform had more than 20 Mn monthly active users and over 1 Lakh writers, yet Singh admitted that the startup had “no revenue model in place at all.”

As a result, a lot depended on VC funding. After raising a ₹105 Cr Series B in 2019 and a Krafton-led Series D in 2021 that valued it at about........

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