LightFury Games, a AAA-focused game-tech studio, announced it has raised $11 million in a Pre-Series A funding round backed by Blume Ventures, V3 Ventures, MIXI, Times Internet, and several prominent international cricket players. The company is developing “eCricket,” a mobile-first AAA cricket title with global ambitions, slated for release in 2026.
The 100-person studio combines creative and technical talent to build premium, globally competitive gaming experiences. The fresh capital will be used to complete the development of eCricket and expand live operations, including post-launch infrastructure and content systems to deliver a continuously evolving player experience.
The funding round stands out for its strategic backing from elite cricketers, including MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Tilak Varma, and Sai Sudharsan. Their involvement shows they endorse the product vision and help bring authenticity to the gameplay experience.
LightFury aims to capitalize on cricket’s massive global audience, estimated at over 2.5 billion fans, by addressing a longstanding gap in sports gaming. The company is building a live-service-driven cricket franchise designed to deliver high-quality, competitive gameplay with deep engagement over time.
The broader gaming market is projected to surpass $400 billion globally, while India’s gaming ecosystem is expected to reach $9.89 billion by 2031. LightFury is positioning itself at the forefront of India’s emergence as a global game development hub, leveraging investments in infrastructure, analytics, and continuous content delivery systems.
Built on Unreal Engine 5, eCricket is designed for mobile-first play and features physics-driven gameplay, strategic batting and bowling systems, and dynamic AI commentary. The game will include a roster of over 600 professional cricketers, including global stars such as Chris Gayle, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Kane Williamson, Pat Cummins, Jos Buttler, Travis Head, and Andre Russell.
Founded in 2024 by Karan Shroff, Anurag Banerjee, and Tina Balachandran, the company is focused on building globally competitive gaming intellectual property from India.
KEY QUOTES
“We’ve backed LightFury from inception, in their mission to pioneer a new generation of Indian gaming studios, building IPs with global ambition. Building a AAA game is neither easy nor quick – it takes sustained creative excellence, deep technical expertise, and long-term discipline. In LightFury, we’ve seen a team come together from different parts of the world, with a shared passion and incredible attention to detail, depth and creativity. Supercharged by natively built AI tools, we are excited for the world to experience eCricket very soon. We would like it to be the Dhurandhar of Indian gaming history.”
Karthik Reddy, Co-founder And Managing Partner, Blume Ventures
“I’m a die-hard cricket fan, and today it is one of the biggest sports in the world. Yet it still does not have a definitive game in the way football, basketball or American football do. That is the gap. What gives us confidence is not just the size of the market, but the quality of gameplay, overall experience and player associations that LightFury has been building behind the scenes with real intent. Cricket is a uniquely complex sport, and its place at the intersection of culture, community and technology for nearly a quarter of the world’s population makes the opportunity around eCricket even more exciting. We’re excited to back LightFury as they work to build an impactful, category-defining global title and give our favourite sport the game it deserves.”
Arjun Vaidya, Managing Partner, V3 Ventures
“India has long been one of the world’s biggest gaming markets. Yet it has not been able to build a truly world-class AAA sports title. With eCricket, we want to change that. We are building from India for the world, with a very high bar on quality, deep competitive gameplay, and true-to-sport authenticity. This partnership ensures that we deliver on that vision and bring eCricket to fans soon in 2026. For us, this is much bigger than a game launch. It is about proving that India can build premium gaming IPs for the world, and not just play it.”
Karan Shroff, Co-Founder And CEO, LightFury Games
“I’ve seen a lot of cricket games over the years, and there’s always been something missing. When LightFury showed me what they were working on, I felt they were trying to close that gap. It’s a big undertaking, building something like this out of India for a global audience. I’m here to contribute what I can from my time in the game, and make sure the details hold up. The rest is up to them, and from what I’ve seen, they’ll do a good job.”
MS Dhoni, Professional Cricketer
“Cricket is a game of fine margins, and that’s what stood out to me about eCricket. The focus on detail and authenticity is impressive. I’m happy to back a team that is thinking deeply about the sport and building something meaningful from India.”
Jasprit Bumrah, Professional Cricketer
“Cricket is pressure, skill, and entertainment all at once. Fans want to feel that energy. What excites me about eCricket is that it is not trying to make cricket smaller for gaming. It is trying to make gaming rise to the scale of cricket. That is a bold idea, and I was very excited when the LightFury team approached me to be a part of the game.”
Hardik Pandya, Professional Cricketer
