Startups & Funding
Krafton doubles down on India with another $250M bet
Krafton, the South Korean gaming company behind PUBG and BGMI, plans to invest another $250 million in India over the next three to four years to expand beyond gaming into AI, robotics, and deep tech.
Krafton announced the new commitment on Friday, bringing its total planned investment in India to more than $500 million, including the over $250 million it has already invested in the country since 2021. The funds are in addition to Krafton’s commitment to a $670 million India-focused growth fund unveiled with South Korean internet conglomerate Naver and investor Mirae Asset in December 2025, to which Krafton said it would contribute around $137 million at the fund’s first close. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that the new $250 million pledge is separate from that growth fund.
India has become a key market for Krafton, giving the gaming publisher access to a country with more than a billion internet subscribers and over 700 million smartphone users. Krafton built its India business around gaming, led by Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) — a revamped, localized version of PUBG that has surpassed 260 million downloads. More recently, the company has used investments in Indian startups to broaden its business beyond games, backing about 18 companies, including four to five gaming studios, among them Nodwin Gaming, Loco, Pratilipi, Kuku FM, and One Impression.
The run hasn’t always been smooth: India banned PUBG Mobile in 2020 alongside hundreds of Chinese-linked apps, and BGMI itself was banned in 2022 before being allowed to return the following year on a three-month trial. Krafton has continued to invest through those setbacks, including last year’s acquisition of Pune-based Nautilus Mobile, the studio behind the Real Cricket franchise, and it plans to launch BGMI Lite in India by the end of 2026.
The new commitment follows a meeting on Friday between Krafton chairman Chang Byung-gyu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, where the two discussed opportunities for India and South Korea to work more closely across gaming, technology, and other emerging sectors, Krafton said.
Why it matters
Krafton’s expansion signals that gaming companies with deep regional footholds are increasingly using that base to bankroll broader AI and deep-tech bets in large, fast-growing markets like India.