Krafton, the South Korean gaming company behind hit titles such as PUBG and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), has launched an India-focused growth investment fund to strengthen its reach into the world's largest internet user base.
The investment vehicle, called the Unicorn Growth Fund, is a collaboration between Crafton, South Korean internet conglomerate Naver, and investor Mirae Asset. Crafton confirmed to TechCrunch that the company aims to deploy up to 60 billion pounds (about $669.3 million) over four years.
The fund, managed by Mirae Asset Venture India, was launched in January and is expected to begin operations with an initial size of over 30 billion rupees (approximately $334.6 million). The company said Krafton will invest 12.3 billion rupees (approximately $137.2 million) upon completion of the initial transaction.
Naver's capital commitment is expected to “approximately match” Krafton's $137 million investment, a Krafton spokesperson told TechCrunch. The fund will not be governed by strict country allocation criteria and typical investment sizes are expected to range from $10 million to $30 million, the spokesperson said.
Crafton said investments through the new fund will primarily be treated as financial positions rather than strategic bets, but the level of involvement with portfolio companies can vary depending on the opportunities and long-term potential of each business.
To date, Krafton has invested over $200 million in India, supporting companies in the gaming, content and fintech sectors. Recent investments include fintech Cashfree and venture fund IMM Investment, alongside previous investments in gaming and content platforms such as Nodwin Gaming, Loco, Pratilipi and Kuku FM. The company also launched a games incubator in India in 2023 and acquired a controlling stake in Indian game studio Nautilus Mobile for $14 million earlier this year.
Krafton's expansion in India was not without setbacks. New Delhi banned the company's flagship local title BGMI in 2022, but allowed its return in 2023 after a three-month trial approval. Crafton subsequently announced a $150 million investment commitment to the country.
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With over 240 million downloads, BGMI was released in 2021 as an improved localized version of PUBG Mobile, another popular title that was banned by the Indian government in mid-2020 due to national security concerns. Since then, Krafton has made a series of operational changes in the country to address regulatory concerns, including severing ties with Tencent as a publisher and moving its Indian servers to Microsoft's Azure cloud.
With the new fund, Crafton aims to expand its India strategy beyond gaming and infuse capital into a broader range of technology startups to build a long-term presence in one of Asia's fastest-growing digital markets.