Krafton has made its second investment into India by putting money into the streaming platform, Loco. The previous one was in Indian esports company Nodwin Gaming in March this year.
Loco raised $9 million in a seed round led by the PUBG makers and media fund Lumikai, according to a report by The Economic Times. Loco, which was owned by digital media company Pocket Aces, will now become a separate entity. The founders of Pocket Aces, Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh will be leading the company.
Pandita said that Loco views the investment as a more than decade-long opportunity to build on the lucrative streaming market in India. Loco has grown its monthly active viewers and streamers by six and 10 times respectively in the past year, according to the report. The live watch hours have increased 48 times in the same time frame.
Krafton has its eyes on the Indian market. Last year, the South Korean company pledged $100 million for the “development and vitalization of related industries” in the country. The company also said that it planned to set up an office in India that will employ at least 100 people. This announcement came following the ban on PUBG Mobile in India for data privacy concerns in September 2020. Krafton has taken over publishing responsibilities from Tencent for PUBG Mobile in the country. The company recently released an Indian version of PUBG Mobile called Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) in early access.
Krafton has been making huge investments ahead of its initial public offering next month, which could see it raise up to $5 billion. The IPO is likely to become South Korea’s biggest ever, according to Bloomberg. It acquired game development company Dreamotion for an undisclosed amount last May and invested about $22 million into Indian esports company Nodwin Gaming in March.
Published: Jun 28, 2021 02:05 am