The Short Drama Gold Rush: What Indian Founders Can Learn from China’s $13B Playbook

We recently hosted the 3rd edition of Prompt to Profit, our founder-first webinar series, where we explored a format that has quietly become a $13B+ behemoth in China: short drama. We were joined by BytePlus,HongGuoShort-Drama (Melolo)HongGuoShort-Drama (Melolo)HongGuoShort-Drama (Melolo)HongGuoShort-Drama (Melolo) the infrastructure backbone behind 9 of the top 10 global short drama platforms. Over 70 founders and operators tuned in for the session, and it turned out to be one of our most engaging sessions yet.

Here are our top takeaways for anyone building at the intersection of content, infrastructure, and monetisation:

1. Short drama is not just content, it’s infrastructure-first entertainment

Forget pilot seasons and 30-minute episodes. Short drama (or duanju) thrives on mobile-native formats:

• 1–5 min episodes
• 20–100 episode arcs
• Cliffhanger-first storytelling
• Watch time rivaling top OTT platforms

What’s driving this? Ultra-fast delivery, AI-assisted production, and gamified monetization. In China, platforms like HongGuo scaled from 0 to 140M MAUs in under 15 months, and now outperform traditional streaming apps in daily user engagement.

2. India has all the ingredients, except the last-mile infra

India already has:

• Mass mobile viewership
• Strong reels/shorts consumer behavior
• A creator economy that knows how to build for attention

But what’s missing is the right infrastructure to support short drama platforms, specifically:

• Real-time video delivery at low latency
• Optimized transcoding for low-bandwidth regions
• An ML-powered recommendation engine tuned for micro-storytelling
• AI-powered content tools and copyright-safe workflows

BytePlus is already helping startups launch short drama platforms in under 4 weeks using its full-stack offering (the same stack that powers TikTok, Hongguo, and Douyin). That infra could be a game-changer for Indian founders.

3. The monetization playbook is evolving fast

What stood out in our session was how nuanced the monetization models are becoming. Founders shouldn’t just copy-paste YouTube or OTT strategies.

Here’s what’s working in short drama:

• Rewarded ads (like in gaming)
• Token-gated story progression
• Micropayments for skipping episodes or unlocking alternate endings
• Hybrid IAP + IAA models

The common thread? Gamify, localize, and respect user attention.

4. GTM matters just as much as tech

HongGuo’s growth wasn’t just infra-led. BytePlus shared how they used AI to drive dynamic creatives, incentive loops to onboard users, and real-time analytics to tweak content strategies on the fly.

For Indian founders, that means personalization has to be as tightly engineered as the tech itself, especially when operating in a mobile-first, low CAC market.

5. There’s a first-mover opportunity waiting to be claimed

We’re still early. No dominant short drama platform exists in India (yet), but that is inevitable. As BytePlus’ team noted, “We’ve already seen what happens when the tech and storytelling come together, the next HongGuo could just as easily be built in India.”

For founders looking to build in content or entertainment, this is the time to move.

At Susquehanna Asia VC, we believe India is one founder away from building its own HongGuo. If you’re exploring short drama; whether in content, infra, or monetization, please write to Dikshit Rekhi at dikshit.rekhi@sig.com.

If you’d like to explore BytePlus’ infra stack for your product, feel free to reach out to Naman Dhanuka.