GAME-TECH STARTUP LIGHTFURY Games has raised $11 million (₹103.5 crore) in a pre-Series A round, that saw participation from investors such as Blume Ventures, V3 Ventures, MIXI and Times Internet, along with some cricketers, as it looks to build a global AAA cricket gaming franchise.
The Indian cricketers that have put money behind LightFury Games include MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Tilak Varma and Sai Sudharsan.
The funding will be used primarily to complete development of Bengaluru-based LightFury’s debut title, eCricket, and build live operations infrastructure to support a continuous gameplay experience.
“We’ve backed LightFury from inception, in their mission to pioneer a new generation of Indian gaming studios, building IPs with global ambition,” said Karthik Reddy, co-founder and managing partner at Blume Ventures. “Supercharged by natively built AI tools, we are excited for the world to experience eCricket very soon. We would like it to be the Dhurandhar of Indian gaming history.”
In April 2024, the company raised $8.5 million in seed investment led by Blume Ventures and participation from Japanese mobile entertainment firm Mixi and VC firm Gemba Capital. The seed funding round also saw participation from angel investors such as Cred founder Kunal Shah and Unacademy co-founder Gaurav Munjal.
LightFury, founded in 2024, is positioning eCricket as a mobile-first AAA title built on Unreal Engine 5, with physics-led gameplay, real-time decision-making and dynamic AI-driven commentary.
CEO Karan Shroff said the ambition goes beyond a single launch. “We are building from India for the world, with a very high bar on quality, deep competitive gameplay, and true-to-sport authenticity… This is much bigger than a game launch. It is about proving that India can build premium gaming IPs for the world.”
The game will feature a roster of over 600 professional cricketers, including global stars such as Chris Gayle, Joe Root and Ben Stokes, as the company looks to tap into cricket’s estimated 2.5 billion-strong global audience.
