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Pocket FM on Tuesday announced the elevation of founding team member Lalit Gangwar as chief operating officer.
In his new role, Gangwar will lead the company’s audio vertical as it expands internationally and oversee business operations and monetisation, the company said in a release.
“Lalit has been central to Pocket FM’s journey from the very beginning… His ability to combine execution with long-term thinking makes him the right leader to run our global audio business,” said Rohan Nayak, cofounder and CEO, Pocket FM.
Gangwar and Pocket FM
Gangwar joined Pocket FM in 2021 as head of growth, India, and helped scale the platform to over 150 million users within the first year, the company said. He later led the company’s expansion into the US, where he built local teams and systems and drove growth.
In a LinkedIn post, Gangwar said his new position is, “… less about a title and more about the journey so far… There is still a lot to do. We are only getting started. The focus now is simple: build stronger systems, drive sharper execution, and keep raising the bar across markets”.
Pocket FM said it has a global audience of over 250 million and continues to invest in new content formats, including AI-powered storytelling, while expanding its creator ecosystem. The platform is available in more than 20 countries and competes with the likes of Spotify and other new-age content platforms, such as Krafton-backed Kuku FM and Pratilipi.
Who’s Gangwar?
Before Pocket FM, Gangwar worked in product roles across consumer internet companies. He was a senior product manager at Zomato between 2019 and 2021, and earlier held a similar role at HealthKart. He began his career in product management at Dineout, later acquired by food delivery platform Swiggy in 2022.
The IIT Madras alumnus also had an early entrepreneurial stint as a founding member of Townrush, a logistics startup later acquired by Grofers (rebranded as Blinkit).
Growth metrics
The appointment comes in the wake of Pocket FM reaching $450 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in April 2026, driven by its AI-native storytelling system. The company crossed $200 million ARR after six years of operations in Q4 FY25, and $400 million ARR a year later. It has more than 300,000 creators producing over 80,000 hours of content every month.
Its revenue stood at Rs 1,768 crore for FY25, up 68% on-year, ET reported in April 2025. More than half of this is from user payments through microtransactions, and the rest from advertising.
In his new role, Gangwar will lead the company’s audio vertical as it expands internationally and oversee business operations and monetisation, the company said in a release.
“Lalit has been central to Pocket FM’s journey from the very beginning… His ability to combine execution with long-term thinking makes him the right leader to run our global audio business,” said Rohan Nayak, cofounder and CEO, Pocket FM.
Gangwar and Pocket FM
Gangwar joined Pocket FM in 2021 as head of growth, India, and helped scale the platform to over 150 million users within the first year, the company said. He later led the company’s expansion into the US, where he built local teams and systems and drove growth.
In a LinkedIn post, Gangwar said his new position is, “… less about a title and more about the journey so far… There is still a lot to do. We are only getting started. The focus now is simple: build stronger systems, drive sharper execution, and keep raising the bar across markets”.
Pocket FM said it has a global audience of over 250 million and continues to invest in new content formats, including AI-powered storytelling, while expanding its creator ecosystem. The platform is available in more than 20 countries and competes with the likes of Spotify and other new-age content platforms, such as Krafton-backed Kuku FM and Pratilipi.
Who’s Gangwar?
Before Pocket FM, Gangwar worked in product roles across consumer internet companies. He was a senior product manager at Zomato between 2019 and 2021, and earlier held a similar role at HealthKart. He began his career in product management at Dineout, later acquired by food delivery platform Swiggy in 2022.
The IIT Madras alumnus also had an early entrepreneurial stint as a founding member of Townrush, a logistics startup later acquired by Grofers (rebranded as Blinkit).
Growth metrics
The appointment comes in the wake of Pocket FM reaching $450 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in April 2026, driven by its AI-native storytelling system. The company crossed $200 million ARR after six years of operations in Q4 FY25, and $400 million ARR a year later. It has more than 300,000 creators producing over 80,000 hours of content every month.
Its revenue stood at Rs 1,768 crore for FY25, up 68% on-year, ET reported in April 2025. More than half of this is from user payments through microtransactions, and the rest from advertising.
