Lila Games raises $10 million funding to build a mobile shooter game

Illustration: Suneesh K

Lila Games, a Bengaluru-based mobile game development studio, has raised $10 million Series A funding led by Rainfall Ventures, the company said on March 16. Bitkraft Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, Sequoia Capital, and South Korean gaming giant Krafton Inc also participated in the round.

Angel investors including Polygon Studios CEO Ryan Watt, Moonfrog Labs co-founder Tanay Tayal and Thomas Vu, one of the executive producers of Arcane: League of Legends, the animated series on Netflix, were part of the round as well.

"We strongly believe that the emergence of India as an upcoming global leader in gaming, and its potential to develop best-in-class talent in the F2P gaming industry will give us long-term structural advantage” Lila Games CEO Joseph Kim.

The startup plans to use the funds to develop its first game title and build its Bengaluru-based team.

Founded by Kim, Avinash Pandey and Paul Leydon, Lila Games is developing a free-to-play mobile shooter game 'Project B.L.A.C.K'.

“Very rarely have I seen a team that is so obsessed with building a company around a vision with culture first and a level of executional excellence that stands best in class. Lila’s first game ‘BLACK’ will redefine the mobile shooter genre, which I can say with certainty and excitement while I witness the game coming together,” said Jens Hilgers, Founding General Partner at Bitkraft Ventures.

The startup raised $2.8 million in seed financing from Bitkraft Ventures in November 2020.

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India is the fastest growing games market in Asia, with its mobile and PC gaming revenue projected to touch $1.49 billion in 2025, registering a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.8 percent from $534.1 million in 2021, according to Niko Partners.

Niko Partners is a market research and consulting firm that covers video games, e-sports, and streaming in the continent.

Krafton, which has to its credit games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds popularly known as PUBG and its India version called Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), also recently invested $5.4 million in Nautilus Mobile, another Indian mobile game studio.