By Praveen Paramasivam
CHENNAI, June 22 (Reuters) – Indian gaming-focused venture capital (VC) fund Lumikai said on Thursday it had launched a $50 million fund, which includes investments from South Korea’s Krafton and Japan’s Colopl.
Other investors in the fund include former Take-Two Interactive boss Ben Feder, music streaming service Napster CEO Jon Vlassopulos, Finnish mobile game developer Supercell and Japan’s Mixi, Lumikai said in a statement.
“There has been a lot of interest from global investors in the India market,” Lumikai founding general partner Justin Keeling told Reuters.
Lumikai said it will deploy capital in pre-Series A investments in India’s gaming and interactive media markets, with a focus on digital content, intellectual property and specialized user-generated content platforms.
The venture capital fund also said it is in advanced talks to complete three deals, without naming the companies.
With startups struggling to raise funds and become profitable, Lumikai’s founding general partner Salone Sehgal said it is a good time to invest in gaming companies as such entities tend to be counter-cyclical and become profitable rather quickly. .
Lumikai, which already has $40 million under management, has invested in game studios, including Studio Sirah, and also streaming platforms like Loco. Separately, it is also setting up a $10 million investment fund for Indian investors.
India, the world’s largest mobile gaming market in terms of app downloads, has produced three gaming unicorns in Game 24X7, Dream11 and Mobile Premier League, according to a government investment agency.
Analysts have said the country’s large young population, an increase in disposable income among the wealthiest and higher smartphone purchases are fueling growth in the gaming market.
The India Brand Equity Foundation, a government agency, expects the size of the Indian gaming market to skyrocket to $8.6 billion by fiscal year 2027 from $2.6 billion in fiscal year 2022.
“India is at an incredible turning point for gaming,” Keeling said.