Bitkraft Ventures, a global gaming and interactive media venture capital firm, said it will double down on investments in India with the passing of the ban on online real-money gaming (i.e. online gambling).
The company plans to enhance focus in the India market and aims to further their interests in gaming studios and the esports sectors.
The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill passed both houses of parliament late on Thursday, and it makes it a crime to offer, promote and finance betting online games with real money.
Bitkraft said its India thesis focuses on original IP creation for India and for global markets, gaming infrastructure, and interactive media platforms for India and global audience that use AI, aligning with India’s strengths in mobile-first development, engineering, and storytelling while strictly backing regulation-compliant models.
In lieu of the ban on online real-money gaming, the government of India is committed to promoting esports, mobile-first casual games and encouraging infrastructure development in the sector, Bitkraft said.
Some stocks of companies associated with fantasy sports betting and real-money online gambling (card games and poker) have taken a toll. Dream11 said it discontinued cash games and contests. And fantasy sports betting firm Mobile Premier League is reportedly laying off 60% of staff.
Despite the regulatory developments on the ban of online money gaming, the larger Indian gaming ecosystem remains robust, with significant growth opportunities in free-to-play titles, midcore and core gaming experiences, AI-native content creation, and the platforms, tools, and infrastructure that support this evolving sector.
With India on track to see five to six mobile games cross the $100 million annual in-app purchase revenue mark by the end of 2025, Bitkraft Ventures is looking to support this significant shift from a historically ad-dominated monetisation model to a top-tier IAP market and subscription revenues increasing for consumer tech apps.
India is no longer just a growth market, it is an innovation market and Bitkraft Ventures said it will further look to back founders from studios building global IP to companies enabling gaming infrastructure and communities who are aligned with both India’s regulatory framework and global ambition. It will support the journey, not just with funding, but with deep operational support and a global network.
Anuj Tandon, Partner, India & UAE, Bitkraft Ventures, said in a statement, “The new proposed framework on the online gaming bill not only enhances investor confidence but also creates a more stable and supportive environment for institutional global investors like BITKRAFT to double down on opportunities across game studios and interactive entertainment in India. It also puts India at par with a lot of mature global gaming markets like South Korea and China, India is at a transformational moment in interactive media and gaming.”
Jens Hilgers, founding general partner at Bitkraft Ventures said in a statement, “India is an exceptionally interesting unique market meeting a very interesting point in time. We welcome India’s regulatory clarity around permissible online gaming. With clear frameworks now in place, India is ready for patient capital and long-term thinking. It lays the foundation for a more trustworthy and enduring ecosystem with consumer protection at its core. This is the type of environment where globally competitive companies are born and we want to partner with Indian founders to make that happen.”
Bitkraft Ventures recently invested in startups like GameRamp, an AI publishing operating system built for the next wave of mobile games and consumer apps. It raised one of the largest pre-seed funds led by Bitkraft at $5.4 million. Some other Indian investments include Stockgro, Mythik, Lila games, Gamezop and a few others. Bitkraft has over $1 billion in assets under management.