iWorld
Pocket Aces promotes co-founder Aditi Shrivastava to CEO
Mumbai: Digital entertainment company Pocket Aces Monday has announced the elevation of co-founder Aditi Shrivastava to the newly created position of chief executive officer.
Aditi will headline Pocket Aces’ three lines of business – social distribution, which houses FilterCopy, Dice Media and Gobble, a talent manager Clout, and a studio for digital content.
Aditi will lead Pocket Aces in its next phase of growth and continue to be a member of the board of directors of the company. Founders Ashwin Suresh and Anirudh Pandita, will also continue to remain shareholders and board members, running Loco, the game streaming platform incubated at Pocket Aces, which was recently spun off into a separate entity, the company said in a statement.
Speaking on her new role, Aditi shared, “We have built a strong foundation for Pocket Aces, and I am thrilled to grow it to one of the largest new-age media companies globally. Our core moat gives us the competitive advantage – a highly meritocratic culture with a diverse high-performance team; a data-driven approach to content creation that turns the traditional media model around its head and dramatically increases hit rate; and an ecosystem approach that leverages all major opportunities – capturing media real estate, building large IPs, and growing talent into brands. We have clear visibility of our content strategy and revenue leading us to profitability, and some very exciting new initiatives launching later this year as well.”
Ashwin Suresh said, “Over the past few years Pocket Aces has cemented its leadership position within the digital entertainment ecosystem while championing the overall growth of the industry. In addition to building out monetization for the Social Distribution business and overseeing the growth of Clout, Aditi also put together an impressive slate of shows for the Studio business. Under her new mandate as CEO and supported by a capable leadership team with a healthy mix of industry experience, first-principles thinking, and creative innovation, Aditi is all set to write the next chapter in the Pocket Aces growth story. We are in the first innings of the digital media revolution and I am excited to see Aditi and our leadership team take Pocket Aces to new heights.”
Anirudh Pandita said, “Pocket Aces has set the pace for innovation in digital entertainment and we are more confident than ever of delivering on our promise of solving boredom. The Pocket Aces leadership team led by Aditi, has the right mix of industry veterans and new-age digital-first thinkers, to execute on the exponential growth opportunity that we see in entertainment. Aditi has played a pivotal part in getting the company to where we are today and I am excited to see the new heights she will help the company scale with this expanded mandate.”
3one4 Capital’s founding partner, Pranav Pai, a large investor in Pocket Aces, said, “The Pocket Aces team has used their deep experience in the field to connect with and grow amongst the largest digital audiences in India. Through grounded empathy for their audience’s consumption behaviours and tastes, Pocket Aces has reimagined the digital entertainment model. The company’s content channels are vertically integrated, from the creators up to the audience, and now leverage their position of strength and scale to continuously innovate and expand the frontier. We are excited to continue our support for the next wave of growth as the team pursues an orbital shift to newer heights.”
Pocket Aces reaches over 50 million people on a weekly basis clocking over 700 million video views every month. The company has grown its revenue seven times in the last three years and is on track to become profitable this year, the company further said.
iWorld
JioHotstar enters micro-drama space with 100 shows under Tadka banner
Short-form push targets 300M users as content meets commerce in new format
MUMBAI: JioStar has made a bold play in India’s fast-growing micro-drama space, rolling out over 100 short-form shows under its new Tadka banner on JioHotstar, timed with the massive viewership surge of the Indian Premier League 2026.
The scale of the launch signals clear intent. Rather than testing the waters, the company has dived in headfirst, releasing a wide slate of content on day one. Each show is designed for quick consumption, with episodes running 60 to 90 seconds in a vertical format tailored for mobile-first audiences.
The move comes as India’s micro-drama market, currently valued at around $300 million, is projected to grow tenfold to over $3 billion by 2030. Globally, the format has already proven its mettle, with China’s micro-drama sector recording explosive growth in recent years.
What sets this rollout apart is its built-in monetisation strategy. The shows are free to watch and ad-supported, with brand integrations woven directly into storylines from the outset. It reflects a broader shift where content and commerce are increasingly intertwined, rather than operating in silos.
The timing is equally strategic. With more than 300 million users already tuning in for IPL action, JioHotstar is effectively turning cricket’s biggest stage into a discovery engine for its new format.
The company is not entering an empty arena. Early movers like Kuku TV, MX Player and platforms backed by Zee Entertainment Enterprises have already laid the groundwork, building audiences and validating demand for snackable storytelling.
Now, with scale, distribution and advertiser interest aligning, the big players are stepping in. For JioStar, Tadka may well serve as a proving ground for the next evolution of digital entertainment, where every minute counts and every second sells.
If the bet pays off, India’s next big content wave might just arrive in under 90 seconds.
