India's Lumikai launches $50 mln gaming, interactive media fund

By Praveen Paramasivam

CHENNAI, June 22 (Reuters) - Indian gaming-focused venture capital (VC) fund Lumikai on Thursday said it has 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's CEO Jon Vlassopulos, Finnish mobile game developer Supercell and Japan's Mixi, Lumikai said in a statement.

"There's been a lot of inbound interest from global investors into the India market," Lumikai Founding General Partner Justin Keeling told Reuters.

Lumikai said it will deploy the capital in pre-seed to series A investments in India's gaming and interactive media markets, with focus on digital content, intellectual property, and platforms specializing in user-generated content.

The VC fund also said it is in advanced talks to complete three deals, without naming the ventures.

With startups scrambling to raise funds and become profitable, Lumikai Founding General Partner Salone Sehgal said it's a great time to invest in gaming ventures, as such entities tend to be counter-cyclic and become profitable fairly quickly.

Lumikai, which already has $40 million under management, has invested in gaming studios including Studio Sirah, and as well as streaming platforms such as 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 youth population, an increase in disposable incomes among the more affluent, and higher smartphone purchases are fuelling growth in the gaming market.

The India Brand Equity Foundation, a government agency, expects India's gaming market size to soar to $8.6 billion by fiscal 2027 from $2.6 billion in fiscal 2022.

"India is at an incredible inflection point for gaming," Keeling said.