MUMBAI: Forget just astrology, bollywood and cricket, India’s digital appetite now runs from A to G. According to the Swipe Before Type report unveiled at Lumikai Insignia 2025, Indians are now paying for astrology, bollywood, cricket, dating, education, fandom, and gaming, reflecting a seismic shift from the old offline A-B-C of entertainment to a mobile-first, monetised mosaic.
Launched by Lumikai, India’s first gaming and interactive media VC fund, the report unpacks how a generation raised on touchscreens is swiping, streaming, and spending its way into new digital frontiers. The insights, drawn from nearly 3,000 mobile users, reveal a nation that’s not just watching but participating.
Women now make up 46 per cent of India’s interactive media audience, two-thirds hail from non-metro regions, and a whopping 80 per cent use UPI for payments. Half of them subscribe to multiple apps, and one in two downloads a new app every week, proof that India’s entertainment economy is no longer passive, it’s passionately participatory.
Gaming, once a niche, now commands the biggest share of digital wallets, with players willing to pay for upgrades, skins, and ad-free experiences. Video streaming remains king, with 54 per cent of users paying for premium plans across Netflix, Prime Video, and JioHotstar. Social platforms, meanwhile, are transforming into mini marketplaces where virtual gifting, in-app purchases, and even astrology consultations drive recurring revenue.
New content trends are also taking hold. Microdramas and short-form storytelling are capturing bite-sized attention spans, while anime has gone mainstream, led by hits like One Piece and Naruto. AI adoption is accelerating too, metro users are 2.5 times more likely to integrate AI into their daily routines than their non-metro counterparts.
“India has moved from paying for A-B-C offline to A-B-C-D-E-F-G online,” said Lumikai founder and managing partner Salone Sehgal. “Cultural shifts and tech habits are creating entirely new monetisation frontiers.”
As Sehgal puts it, India isn’t just watching the digital future unfold, it’s swiping it into existence.
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