On Thursday, popular battle royale game Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) maker Krafton announced to invest $150 million in Indian gaming and interactive entertainment startups over the next two to three years.

The CEO of Krafton India, Sean Hyunil Sohn, said that the company is looking for startups focused on deep learning and artificial intelligence (AI) integrated with content creation. He added that the company wants to capitalise on the country’s potential as a key player in the global gaming and technology industry. 

Krafton started its startup investment journey in India with esports firm Nodwin in March 2021. Since then, the South Korean gaming giant has invested $140 million in 11 innovative Indian startups. This new investment makes it one of the most profuse strategic investors in the country in recent times, with a total commitment of about $290 million. 

The company invests in Series A to Series B stage startups in diverse and complementary sectors beyond game development, including, Esports, multimedia entertainment, content creation and audio platforms.

Krafton is also expanding its games portfolio in India. It recently launched Defense Derby, a real-time strategy game developed by its independent studio RisingWings. Apart from BGMI, the company now offers four other games The Callisto Protocol, Road To Valor: Empires, Defense Derby games and New State Mobile.

In recent months, Krafton has expanded its scope to actively support startups in emerging segments like the creator economy and consumer-facing deep tech.

Its portfolio companies include audio content platform Kuku FM, game streaming platform Loco, influencer marketing platform One Impression, conversational media platform Bobble AI, friend discovery startup FRND, in-game NFT exchange GGX, Indian language storytelling platform Pratilipi, mobile game development studios Nautilus Mobile and Lila Games and music NFT marketplace FanTiger,