LightFury Games has closed an $11 million Pre-Series A funding round, attracting backing from both established venture firms and some of the biggest names in Indian cricket. The round brings together institutional investors and sporting icons in a combination that reflects growing confidence in cricket-themed gaming as a global opportunity.
On the institutional side, the round saw participation from Blume Ventures, V3 Ventures, Times Internet, and MIXI Global Investments. These are well-known names in the Indian startup investment space, and their involvement gives the company a strong financial foundation to build from.
What makes this funding round particularly notable, however, is the group of cricketers who have come on board as strategic investors. MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Tilak Varma, and Sai Sudharsan have all invested in the company. Having active players of this stature backing a gaming startup is unusual and adds a layer of credibility that goes well beyond typical celebrity endorsements.
The capital raised will be directed toward developing eCricket, a cricket-focused gaming experience built for a worldwide audience. The product aims to bring the sport into the gaming world in a meaningful way, targeting cricket fans not just in India but globally.
The company’s core team, led by Karan Shroff and Anurag Banerjee, has been credited with driving the company’s mission forward. Their leadership has been central to getting the product to the point where investors of this caliber are willing to back it.
Funding rounds in gaming are not uncommon, but the composition of this one is hard to ignore. The combination of seasoned venture capital firms and a lineup of active international cricketers suggests that LightFury is positioning eCricket as more than just another mobile game. The involvement of players who are currently competing at the highest level of the sport gives the company a direct connection to the cricket ecosystem that most gaming startups simply do not have.
With $11 million now secured and a strong set of backers behind it, LightFury Games appears well-placed to push eCricket into a serious product that could find an audience wherever cricket is followed closely.
