MS Dhoni & Hardik Pandya Invest in LightFury Games
Key Highlights
MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya invest $11M in game-tech studio LightFury Games. Funding to boost eCricket development and live operations. Learn more!
LightFury Games, an AAA-focused game-tech studio, announced Thursday that it has raised $11 million in a pre-Series A funding round. Blume Ventures, V3 Ventures, MIXI, and Times Internet were among the backers.
The funding round also included investments from cricket players MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Tilak Varma, and Sai Sudharsan.
LightFury Games stated that the new capital will be used to finalize game development and enhance its live operation capabilities, including post-launch infrastructure content pipelines, systems, and player experience.
Founded in 2024 by Karan Shroff, Anurag Banerjee, and Tina Balachandran, LightFury Games is developing eCricket, a AAA title scheduled for release this year on mobile devices.
Karthik Reddy, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Blume Ventures, said that they have supported LightFury from its beginning, backing its mission to create a new generation of Indian gaming studios and build IPs with global ambition. He added that building a AAA game requires sustained creative excellence, technical expertise, and long-term discipline.
Reddy also noted that LightFury has assembled a team from around the world with a shared passion and attention to detail. He said that they are excited for the world to experience eCricket soon, supercharged by natively built AI tools, and hope it will be the Dhurandhar of Indian gaming history.
LightFury Games noted that eCricket is built on Unreal Engine 5 and designed for mobile-first play, featuring physics-led gameplay combined with strategic batting and bowling systems that capture real-world styles and match dynamics.
The company has also secured a global player roster license of over 600 professional cricketers, including Chris Gayle, Ben Stokes, and Pat Cummins.