Bengaluru-based gaming startup Giga Fun Studios raises $2.4 million in seed round led by Lumikai Fund & Fireside Ventures

• Giga Fun Studios will utilise the funds to create a new benchmark in casual games built to high quality for Indian and global audiences.
  
• All In Capital, Kettleborough VC and Riverwalk Holdings also participated in this round.
  
• An estimated 80% of gamers show a high proclivity to play games based on Indian IP.
  
• With over 5 billion downloads, India is one of the largest download markets for casual games that include games like ‘Candy Crush’.

Bengaluru-based gaming startup Giga Fun Studios on Wednesday said it has raised $2.4 million in a seed round led by Lumikai, India’s gaming and interactive media focused VC fund, and consumer specialists Fireside Ventures. All In Capital, Kettleborough VC and Riverwalk Holdings also participated in the funding round.

Giga Fun Studios will utilise the funds to create a new benchmark in casual games built to high quality for Indian and global audiences. The company will be investing heavily on curating a stellar team as a hub for “best in India” casual game developers, the company said in a statement.

“According to our recently released India State of Gaming 2022 report, 80% of gamers show a high proclivity to play games based on Indian IP. We believe that culture-themed casual games have the potential to unlock massive disruption in the gaming space in India,” Justin Shriram Keeling, founding general partner, Lumikai said.

The startup was founded by Krishnendu Mukherjee, Rahul Daga and Rahul Shekhar.

“The core problem we mutually identified in India was that while current dominant casual games (such as Candy Crush) are very high in quality, they haven't been able to fully unlock an Indian player base due to a lack of cultural resonance. This is additionally visible in the lack of monetization participation of the Indian player. With over 5 billion downloads, India is one of the largest download markets for casual game,” said Mukherjee, co-founder and CEO at Giga Fun Studios.

Giga Fun Studios aims to focus on designing games with geo accessibility across the full game stack, including simple but compelling game loops, customised UI/UX design for domestic gamers, accessible pricing, and distribution via third party app stores. The longer-term goal is to export the richness of Indian culture globally, the statement said.

“Globally, gaming has already eclipsed movies & music by ~3x and is one of the largest and fastest emerging sectors of digital consumption. This will serve the unmet needs of Indian consumers to drive a multi-billion dollar market opportunity over the next few years. High quality, deeply localised games built on proven game formats with the right in-app purchase driven monetisation are likely to be the first beneficiaries in the wave of gaming which is expected to be an over $8.5 billion market opportunity in India,” Shreyans Gangwal, vice president, Fireside Ventures said.

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