Live social to micro drama, the entertainment stack for Bharat and its 500M
When we wrote the first cheque in June 2020, Saurabh had just quit Flipkart. He came to us with an idea and a few slides. A short video-first social commerce app, inspired by his mother’s YouTube channel, which he helped launch in 2019. The house of apps that we recognise today - StoryTV, Eloelo, Connecto, Master - didn’t exist. That was the vision. Not the v1.0 app. It was all about Saurabh’s instinct that Bharat’s consumer+social would be online, vernacular, interactive and very different from what existed globally.
"WaterBridge Ventures was the first cheque into Eloelo when we were nothing but a PowerPoint and a dream. And backed us in every round no matter what! 5+ years later, we are among the largest & fastest-growing consumer tech cos in India, yet every curveball this journey has thrown at us - Anjali never flinched. When we decided to enter Micro Dramas & later Micro Learning as categories, she was in the room and backed those bets against all odds. We don't say this enough as founders — but the people who believe in you before you've earned it matter the most."
Choose the Stage. Reject being Feed
2020. Peak Covid. Indians pushed to consume ads-led Chinese async content feed. Creator-led content was taking over, but “Live” was unheard of. And vernacular was a distant dream. Eloelo built a two-way, creator - audience interaction platform, safe by design, uniquely Indian in style.
Operator who'd owned and aced consumer P&Ls
Ran mobile-first ₹2,000 Cr turnover businesses at Flipkart's crucible, at 100% YoY growth. Instincts above a slide deck.
Bharat's cultural fabric - a multi-lingual multiverse
One entertainment OS for Bharat, multiple formats of engagement, one overarching playbook.
Indigenous over Western
Tambola, antakshari, PK battles turned the live rooms into the smallest pockets of entertainment that Bharat would pay to be inside.
From live interactive rooms to the 2nd most downloaded entertainment app globally
- 2020
Origin: One founder. Once in a generation shift
Saurabh rejects the Chinese-origin TikTok clones. Quits Flipkart to start 'live' interactive rooms run with creators at the centre stage, and audience engagement as the north-star metric. WaterBridge leads the Seed Round.
- 2021
Land ahoy! We see user love (and a lot of it!)
1.5M+ downloads, 500K MAUs, 10K+ Creators, 1000+ creator sessions/day, 70%+ organic traffic. If anything screamed louder of asymmetric love, we'd be deaf. WaterBridge co-leads Pre-Series A and further participates in Series A.
- 2023
Started as an app, now it is a cultural revolution
Bharat had accepted Eloelo as its de-facto entertainment room. Industry-bending CAC, but there was no LTV. When it needed another institutional leap of faith (Pre-Series B), WaterBridge wrote the largest cheque in the round.
- 2024
Chhota Packet, Bada Dhamaka
Monetisation tap opened for the first time. First came a few drops, followed by a steady stream. Then it was flooded. From micro-payments to the #1 entertainment app in India.
- 2026
Look Ma! I'm on TV
StoryTV became the #1 micro-drama app in India within a year of launch, and the 2nd most downloaded entertainment app worldwide. Partners with Bollywood production houses.
A WaterBridge note
First to back. Till date, the largest institutional investor on the cap table. Patiently backed unbridled ambition in every round. By design.
The 2021 breakout solidified our conviction. Eloelo beat every conceivable benchmark of consumer love, engagement and retention. But it was far from monetisation. The hardest part was backing conviction with capital.
We stitched together and co-led the pre-Series A in 2022 and then again the pre-Series B in 2024. Creator-led, live, interactive, social was too many sectors in one sentence for mainstream growth capital investors. They couldn't box it - is this gaming? Or is this social media? We kept backing our thesis that it is unique to how vernacular audiences want to consume video-led entertainment.
Five years later, India had its microdrama moment - OTT was getting disrupted. Nobody could have predicted the wave in 2020. Neither could we. But we backed the best founder we knew who could build a Bharat-first entertainment stack. Today, it is a no-brainer. In 2020, it was novice.
We are honoured to cross the chasm from novice to a no-brainer.
A stage they built, owned, and packed
That One Idea with Saurabh Pandey of Eloelo
From an idea on a napkin to Bharat's entertainment stack
Rev It Up with Saurabh Pandey on entertainment for Bharat
WaterBridge hosts Eloelo's founder and other leading content founders on a fireside chat
Saurabh headlining APOS 2026, Asia’s leading media summit
Tailwinds driving India’s microdrama boom from $100M (2025) to $500M (2026)
Eloelo raises $13.5M Series B to scale live social and micro drama
The next-generation of social platforms will be mobile-native and video-first
StoryTV becomes India's #1 micro-drama app
Crosses 100M installs; 2nd-most downloaded entertainment app globally
Building India’s largest live social entertainment app
The conversation is a masterclass in courage, conviction, and community building
StoryTV and Zee reimagine TV classics for mobile
Iconic shows return as short dramas for smartphone audiences
Eloelo launches Master, a micro-learning app for Bharat
Short vertical lessons extend the house of apps further