Mobile gaming studio BlackLight Games bags funding from Udyat Ventures, others

BlackLight Games founders Anupam Srivastava (L) and Shruti Sarraf (R)

Mobile gaming studio BlackLight Games has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in its first institutional financing round led by Udyat Ventures, the family office of Udyat Group managing director Harsh Gupta.

Former Nazara Technologies CEO Manish Agarwal's startup Kratos Studios, Polygon Ventures and Dexter Ventures have also participated in the funding round.

Founded by Anupam Srivastava and Shruti Sarraf in 2011, BlackLight Games focuses on building social multiplayer games for mobile devices.

The startup claims to have clocked over 200 million downloads across three titles including its flagship game Ludo SuperStar, and others such as Carrom Superstar, and Callbreak Superstar.

BlackLight Games plans to use the funds raised to expand into new markets, hire talent and invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve player experiences through personalisation.

"The Indian gaming ecosystem is on the verge of a significant upsurge. Through the utilization of AI and ML in gaming, we are crafting an unparalleled gaming experience," Srivastava said.

Sarraf added "From the very start, our aim has been to establish a global brand for classic games. The vast global stage holds immense potential, with billions of smartphone users, each a potential gamer."

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Rahul Gupta, managing partner at Udyat Ventures, said "Anupam and Shruti have already done an amazing job of building BlackLight grounds up and showcase the required grit and qualities of great founders"

“I have seen very closely the data-driven mindset and work ethics of Shruti & Anupam as they went about building a BlackLight Games fully bootstrapped and I firmly believe with this round of funding they would scale to global markets, leveraging the solid foundation they have built thus far” Agarwal said.

India is the fastest-growing video games market in Asia, both in terms of revenue and gamers, with its mobile and PC gaming revenue projected to reach $868 million in 2023, according to Niko Partners, a market research and consulting firm that covers video games, e-sports, and streaming in the continent.

This is set to grow at a five-year compound annual growth rate of 17.2 percent to touch $1.58 billion by 2027. These figures do not include revenue generated by real money games.