🎮 Inside Krafton’s India investment playbook

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26 February 2025 View in Browser

Hello,   The IPL season is nearly here, complete with hair-raising plays, screaming fans, and…neuroscience?   As the Indian Premier League draws closer, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance is using some unconventional tactics to boost revenues from the world’s most valuable cricket league.   To battle competitors like Netflix and Amazon in the $28-billion market, the company has been targeting small businesses and pitching advertising agencies with "brain mapping" research that it claims shows its streaming ads have a higher engagement rate than even YouTube.    Digital is the new battleground for many broadcasters, who are feeling the pinch in their direct-to-home verticals. In fact, The Tata and Bharti groups are finalising a merger between Tata Play and Airtel Digital TV to tide over the steady trickle of subscribers to streaming sites.   Meanwhile, tighter equity derivatives trading rules are pushing India’s smaller cities to a new source of supplemental income–cryptocurrencies.    Retail traders are now looking beyond traditional stocks and options to assets like bitcoin, ethereum, and dogecoin, whose cumulative trading volumes on four of India’s largest exchanges have grown more than two-fold quarter-on-quarter to $1.9 billion in the October-December quarter.    Out of the top 10 centres that propelled crypto activity in the country in 2024, seven were lower-tiered cities, such as Jaipur, Lucknow and Pune, according to CoinSwitch.   It’s the dawn of a brave new world for India’s trader community.    In today’s newsletter, we will talk about  Inside Krafton’s India investment playbook Weaving a new future for women In conversation with Rukam Capital’s Archana Jahagirdar Here’s your trivia for today: What is the English translation of the name of the Italian dessert tiramisu?

Gaming Inside Krafton’s India investment playbook Krafton’s presence in India extends far beyond battle royales. With investments totalling over $170 million across various startups, the Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) maker has positioned itself as a venture capitalist, backing sectors that complement its long-term vision.   “We don’t have a specific sector focus,” says Nihansh Bhat, Lead at Corporate Development, in an interaction with YourStory. “As strategic investors, we invest where we see alignment with our core business or our growing portfolio of media and entertainment assets,” he adds.   Key takeaways: Krafton’s recent investment in Indian payments firm Cashfree, where it led a $53 million round, marked its foray into the fintech sector.  Beyond fintech, Krafton has aggressively backed Indian gaming studios, including Devtouch, Lila Games, and Nautilus Mobile. It has also set up the KIGI program, an incubator for early-stage game developers, with investments as small as $150,000.  In a bid to attract more Korean investors to India, Krafton has anchored India-focused investment vehicles like the IMM India Fund. Through these initiatives, the firm aims to play an active role in bridging the gap between the two markets, helping Korean investors warm up to India’s rapidly-evolving startup ecosystem. Read More

Funding Alert 1) Technodysis: Rs 10 Cr | Debt 2) Dodo Payments: $1.1M | Pre-Seed

Startup Weaving a new future for womenHeena Patel is the Founder of Magic Needles, a company that crafts a diverse range of handmade knitted and crochet products while empowering 300 women with sustainable livelihoods.   “On a lark, I ordered a few needles and yarn. I knitted a sweater with basic knowledge of stitches. I started buying kits, and soon, knitting became my solace and escape. When the twins started playgroup at two-and-a-half, I turned to knitting again after a gap and started learning crochet, too, through YouTube videos,” she tells HerStory.   Hobby to business: At present, Magic Needles employs 300 women, of which 150 are from Mumbai, 50 from Himachal Pradesh, 50 from Kolkata, and the remaining from the rest of India, who produce over 1,400 SKUs. The company follows a decentralised model, where artisans work from home, allowing them to balance household responsibilities while earning a dignified income. As Magic Needles evolved, Patels identified another gap in the market—the lack of high-quality yarns in India. Rather than relying on Turkish yarn as they had been doing since the company’s inception, they boldly launched their premium yarn brand, Hobby Store. Read More

Interview In conversation with Rukam Capital’s Archana JahagirdarRukam Capital Founder and Managing Partner Archana Jahagirdar is part of the organising committee for the second edition of Startup Mahakumbh, which is bringing together over 3,000 startups and over 1,000 investors to discuss and fuel entrepreneurial ideas and growth at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.    YourStory spoke with Jahagirdar to understand the rising role of VC firms in the startup ecosystem and how the stigma attached to risk capital needs to undergo further change in the country today.   Key takeaways: Venture capital is still not a widely accepted asset class in India. Indians have traditionally preferred real estate, gold, and, more recently, mutual funds and the stock market. But VCs remain, in my opinion, misunderstood, leading to shallow commentary—especially after the BYJU’S debacle, she says. India has plenty of early-stage capital from angels and micro VCs, but later-stage funding has long relied on global giants like Tiger, SoftBank, and Prosus… And with many of these global firms stepping back, the funding gap is glaring. Their exits weren’t about India’s potential but their own shifting strategies, yet their absence triggered a funding winter. “Institutional investors have a higher fiduciary responsibility—they're not managing personal wealth, so their caution is understandable. Unlike family offices, they ask tougher questions, and rightfully so,” Jahagirdar adds. Read More

From the CapTable India’s Gen Z fashion paradox—all hype, little scale Earlier this month, China’s Shein, once the undisputed leader in fast fashion, made a dramatic return to the country after being banned by the Indian government in 2020. This time around, it has Reliance Industries, India’s largest conglomerate, in its corner, having partnered with Reliance Retail for its second innings in the country. In mere days, Shein’s disruptive potential was evident, quickly becoming the most downloaded app on Google’s India Play Store. However, while many are expecting Shein’s re-entry into India to shake up the market, the Gen Z fashion space it primarily caters to hasn’t lived up to expectations since the company last hawked its wares in the country. In the years since Shein’s exit in 2020, a wave of startups rushed to fill the gap, raising millions in funding. Leading e-commerce marketplaces also threw their hats in the ring. Myntra introduced Stylecast (now FWD), Flipkart launched Spoyl, and Ajio rolled out Ajiogram, all targeted at price-conscious young consumers. But five years on, these bets have struggled to reach their potential. While Shein raked in nearly $23 billion in revenue worldwide in 2023, no Indian Gen Z-focused brand or platform has come close to replicating Shein’s scale. Others have pivoted or shut down altogether. Key takeaways: Despite multiple attempts to fill Shein's void since 2020, India's Gen Z fashion market remains underdeveloped. Even category leaders today generate only modest revenues. Gen Z consumers are price-conscious and brand-agnostic, resulting in low order values and infrequent purchases that hinder scaling. Major platforms continue investing in the category despite this, driven by FOMO and hopes for eventual breakout success, a la quick commerce. 2025 is viewed as a make-or-break year for the space, with a potential consumption boost expected from the government’s recent income tax relief for those earning under Rs 12.75 lakh. Continue Reading

News & Updates

Free AI: Google introduced a new, free consumer version of its AI code completion and assistance tool, Gemini Code Assist for Individuals. The company also rolled out Gemini Code Assist for GitHub, a code review “agent” designed to automatically look for bugs in code and offer suggestions directly within GitHub. Lift ban: Indonesia and Apple Inc. have agreed to lift the country’s ban on iPhone 16s, paving the way to end a five-month tug-of-war that forced the US tech giant to raise its promised investment in the country to $1 billion. Indonesia’s Ministry for Industry will sign a memorandum of agreement with Apple as soon as this week. Exit: Unilever surprised investors by ousting CEO Hein Schumacher and replacing him with CFO Fernando Fernandez, who will take over the tough task of reviving the consumer group's performance. Schumacher's sudden departure after less than two years in the job hit Unilever's shares, which fell as much as 3.4% on Tuesday.

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Did you know?

What is the English translation of the name of the Italian dessert tiramisu? Answer: “Cheer me up”.

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