Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADIA is in talks to back Pocket FM in a large new round of funding, according to sources familiar with the matter. Pocket FM, the Indian audio-storytelling platform, is expanding its presence in the U.S.

The discussions for the new funding round have been ongoing for over a month and come after Pocket FM recently secured approximately $100 million in a separate funding round from Lightspeed Venture Partners. These details are not yet public, as the sources requested anonymity.

Last year, TechCrunch reported that Lightspeed Venture Partners had shown interest in investing in Pocket FM. However, the talks with ADIA and the closure of the recent funding round have not been previously disclosed.

The funding discussions reflect the rapid revenue growth at Pocket FM, which offers serialized fiction and non-fiction content in genres like romance, self-help, and motivation. By the end of last year, its annualized revenue had surpassed $160 million, marking a significant increase from a year ago.

Although ADIA and Pocket FM have not finalized a deal, the talks may not result in an investment, as cautioned by sources familiar with the matter. ADIA has not commented on the matter, while Pocket FM refrains from speculating on market rumors.

Pocket FM, which has investors such as Tencent, Tanglin, and Times Internet, had set a goal of achieving an ARR of $100 million by the end of 2023.

According to Bain, Indian startups saw a decrease in large-scale funding rounds last year due to reduced investments by prominent crossover funds like Tiger Global and SoftBank. However, sovereign funds such as ADIA, Temasek, GIC, and Qatar Investment Authority increased their investments in late-stage startups.

Pocket FM’s expansion into the U.S. and its non-subscription, pay-as-you-go model have been successful. The platform offers free access to episodes every 24 hours, with additional content available for a fee. Users can purchase coins in local currency for extra episodes, with an average daily listening time of over 110 minutes.

Last month, Pocket FM announced a $40 million investment to expand its online reading platform, Pocket Novel. Co-founder Rohan Nayak mentioned on LinkedIn that over 90,000 writers had signed up in less than a month.