Meta launches gaming accelerator in India, partners with Bitkraft, Elevation Capital, others

Facebook parent Meta is looking to capitalise on India’s fast-growing gaming industry by providing developers access to advertising tools, expert mentorship and strategic guidance to help scale their businesses globally.

On June 17, the social networking giant announced the launch of Meta Gaming Accelerator, an incubator designed for emerging game developers and studios in India. The initiative is being launched in partnership with four venture capital firms — Bitkraft Ventures, Elevation Capital, Kalaari Capital, and Lumikai Fund.

"India’s gaming community is a hotbed of creativity and innovation, but to unlock its full potential, we need to bridge the gap between talent and opportunity," said Arun Srinivas, managing director and head, Meta India, in a statement.

In its launch phase, the three-month-long programme will support 20 to 30 emerging Indian developers and studios through a structured curriculum offering guidance on monetisation, user acquisition and cross-border scaling.

It will also focus on artificial intelligence (AI)-led game development, with an emphasis on how developers can integrate Meta’s AI tools, including Llama, into their game creation and optimisation processes. This comes amid Meta's broader efforts to promote adoption of its Llama AI models in India, which is home to one of the world’s largest developer bases.

"By combining expert sessions from Meta with structured guidance from the country’s top venture capital firms, we hope to not just empower local success stories but also create a launchpad for Indian gaming companies to scale globally" Srinivas said.

Game on

India is one of the fastest-growing gaming markets in the world. According to a report by Lumikai, the country’s gaming industry generated $3.8 billion in revenue in FY24, marking a 22.6 percent year-over-year increase. The market is projected to exceed $9.2 billion by FY29, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 percent over the next five years.

"At Bitkraft Ventures, we have a front-row seat to the explosive global growth of the gaming industry over the years, with a portfolio that spans over 140 companies across six continents. Yet, for emerging gaming markets like India, there is a big opportunity and need for the ecosystem to come together and help small and medium gaming companies" said Anuj Tandon, partner, Bitkraft Ventures.

Kalaari Capital partner Vamshi Reddy also mentioned that India's gaming industry "needs more interventions to reach its full potential".

"We’ve seen time and again that young companies with access to timely guidance, strategic resources, and a supportive ecosystem are better equipped to overcome growth hurdles and achieve success...This programme directly addresses the scaling challenges faced by indie studios and offers unparalleled access to Meta’s experts, paving a clear path for sustained growth in this dynamic market," he said.

Meta India’s top executives have earlier pledged their commitment to playing a key role in the growth of the sector, citing a “big opportunity” in a market projected to reach 700 million gamers by 2028. Gaming is among the top three verticals for the company globally.

“India is a key part of Meta’s global gaming strategy, and we’re committed to fostering innovation and growth within the developer community here,” Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President (India and South East Asia), Meta, said in an industry event in October 2024.

"Advertising is a crucial component for creators and developers to scale their businesses, especially in markets like India. Our platforms provide the tools needed to reach a global audience and grow sustainably through effective monetisation," she said at the event.

Meta's India unit gross advertising revenue grew to Rs 22,730.7 crore in the financial year 2024, up 24 percent from the previous year. The company benefited from growth in online advertising, fuelled by rising digital adoption in the country.

Net profit rose 43 percent to Rs 504.93 crore and revenue from operations grew 9.3 percent to Rs 3,034.8 crore.