Lightfury raises $11 mn; Dhoni, Bumrah join gaming startup captable

Bengaluru-based AAA gaming studio secures funding from VCs and Indian cricketers as it prepares to launch 'eCricket' and scale live operations

Lightfury Games, a AAA-focused game technology studio, has raised $11 million in a pre-Series A funding round backed by investors including Blume Ventures, V3 Ventures, MIXI, Times Internet, and several Indian cricketers.

 

The Bengaluru-based company said its captable now includes prominent players such as MS Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Tilak Varma, and Sai Sudharsan.

Strategic backing from cricketers

The company said the involvement of cricketers offers more than just capital support.

 

“There is a strategic value that comes with cricketers. There is an element of guidance that we can expect depending on their availability. There is an aspect of distribution, since they are invested with us, we can expect support coming in from all of them,” said Karan Shroff, co-founder and chief executive officer of Lightfury Games.

Focus on AAA title ‘eCricket’

The fresh capital will be used to complete development of the company’s flagship AAA title, eCricket, which is slated for launch later this year.

 

The funding will also support live operations capabilities, including post-launch infrastructure, content pipelines and systems aimed at delivering a scalable and continuously evolving player experience.

 

The company had earlier raised $8.5 million in a seed round in 2024.

Building a global cricket gaming ecosystem

Shroff said Lightfury has onboarded over 600 cricket players for the game, which users can unlock as they progress. The title has already attracted more than 155,000 early-access registrations from markets such as India, Australia and the United Kingdom.

 

The game will initially launch on Android and iOS, followed by expansion to personal computers and consoles.

Gameplay and development approach

AAA games typically involve high production budgets and extended development cycles. Lightfury has been working on eCricket for 18–20 months and has built a team of over 100 people.

 

The company is focusing on physics-based gameplay mechanics to enhance realism.

 

“We’re doing it on the back of physics. The weight of the ball, at what speed it's delivered, is it making the right impact on the bat — all of those things will play out,” Shroff said.

 

Session times are expected to range between 10 and 15 minutes, with a multiplayer format designed for quick, repeatable gameplay.

 

“That’s the range we’re looking at — a quick, consumable experience where users can play a match and return,” he added.