Krafton is upping its India bet with a new $670M fund

Krafton, the South Korean gaming company that owns popular titles like PUBG and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), is launching a development fund targeting India, increasing its push into the world’s largest online platform.

Named Unicorn Growth Fund, the investment vehicle is a joint venture between Krafton and South Korean internet conglomerate Naver, and investor Mirae Asset. It aims to deliver up to ₹60 billion (about $669.3 million) over four years, Krafton confirmed to TechCrunch.

The fund, which will be managed by Mirae Asset Venture India, is expected to launch in January and start operations with an initial capitalization of more than ₹30 billion (about $334.6 million). Krafton will pay $12.3 billion (about $137.2 million) in the first round, the company said.

Naver’s capital commitment is expected to be “very similar” to Krafton’s $137 million investment, a Krafton spokesperson told TechCrunch. The fund does not work on a regular basis in the distribution of countries, and the growth of the economy is expected to be between $ 10 million and $ 30 million, the spokesperson said.

Krafton said investment through the new fund could be considered an investment rather than a strategic bet, although the number of companies participating in the venture could vary depending on the opportunities and long-term potential of each business.

To date, Krafton has invested more than $200 million in India, supporting companies in the gaming, content and fintech sectors. Recent investments include fintech Non-financial and venture funds Opinions of the company IMM Investmentalong with the past betting on sports and platforms such as Nodwin Gaming, Loco, Pratilipi, and Kuku FM. So does the company he started a sports incubator in India in 2023, and they found a control unit in Indian game studio Nautilus Mobile for $14 million earlier this year.

Krafton’s expansion into India was not without obstacles. New Delhi banned BGMIthe head of the company, in 2022, before allowing it to return in 2023. following the approval of three months. Krafton later announced a $150 million investment commitment in the country.

BGMI, which has passed 240 million downloads, was launched in 2021 as modified, standard version of PUBG Mobile, another popular title that was banned by the Indian government in mid-2020 for national security. Since then, Krafton has made several changes in the country – including cutting ties with Tencent as its publisher and moving its Indian servers to Microsoft’s Azure cloud – to deal with regulatory issues.

With this new fund, Krafton is looking to expand its India strategy beyond gaming, investing in more tech startups as it seeks to build a long-term presence in one of Asia’s fastest-growing digital markets.