KRAFTON To Invest $250 Mn In Indian AI & Deeptech Startups

Doubling down on India, South Korean gaming giant KRAFTON plans to invest an additional $250 Mn (₹3,300 Cr) in Indian startups over the next three to four years. 

Beyond gaming, KRAFTON said that the new corpus will expand its focus to emerging areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, deeptech, among others.

This is in addition to the $250 Mn that the gaming giant has already invested in the country, taking its total planned investment in India to $500 Mn (₹6,600 Cr). Separately, KRAFTON, in partnership with Mirae Asset Global Investments and NAVER, had also launched a $670 Mn (₹6,000 Cr) venture fund to back Indian startups last year. 

The announcement came as KRAFTON chairman Byung Gyu Chang met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi today. In a statement, the company said that Chang, during the meeting, reaffirmed KRAFTON’s commitment to India and its rapidly growing gaming, technology and digital entertainment ecosystem.

The two also discussed opportunities for India and the Republic of Korea to work closely in areas of gaming, innovation and emerging technologies.

“… Through our investments, skill-development initiatives and focus on emerging technologies, we look forward to working alongside India’s growing community of creators, developers and entrepreneurs to build globally relevant experiences and technologies,” added Chang.

The BGMI maker has been making investments in India since March 2021. Its India portfolio counts the likes of names such as esports startup NODWIN, streaming platform Loco and self-publishing platform Pratilipi. It also acquired a controlling 75% stake in Pune-based gaming studio Nautilus Mobile last year.

Besides investments, India is also a key market for KRAFTON given the country’s high smartphone penetration and ease of access to digital payments, which enable micro transactions. The South Korean gaming giant’s flagship product is Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), formerly known as PUBG, which has surpassed 260 Mn downloads in the country. 

KRAFTON is expanding its investment focus in India as the ban on real-money gaming (RMG) last year suffered a big blow to the local ecosystem. Many big names have either crumbled since then or pivoted to new business models, while early stage funding activity has remained tepid for the sector. 

As a result, KRAFTON likely sees deeptech and AI as the next big frontier for its investments in India. And it is not without reason. Buoyed by policy clarity, government sops, capital inflows, growing demand and brewing investor confidence, Indian AI startups raised $676 Mn during the first six months of 2026. 

As per Inc42 data, India’s AI economy is projected to become a $126 Bn opportunity by 2030.

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