One quick thing: TCS says no decision yet on FY27 promotions; plans AI-focused Wings relaunch In today’s newsletter:
- ICC’s maiden startup investment
- Zepto’s anti-DMart play
- Elevation readies $500 mn for India and AI
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Story 1 ICC’s maiden startup investment
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to make its first startup investment, with a Bengaluru-based startup likely to land the deal.
Driving the news: ICC is in advanced talks to invest in LightFury Games, people familiar with the matter told us.
- The deal comes as LightFury Games is understood to have secured the ICC’s official gaming rights across mobile, PC, and console platforms globally.
Why it matters? When completed, the transaction could make LightFury’s upcoming title, E-Cricket, the ICC’s official cricket game.
- E-Cricket aims to deliver a real-time multiplayer experience similar to the popular football game FIFA (now EA Sports FC), one of the best-selling sports video game franchises globally.
Cricket players as backers: LightFury counts India’s top cricketers Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, and Ravindra Jadeja among its investors. (P.S. They will also feature as playable characters within the game at launch)
- The startup has raised about $20 million to date with investors including V3 Ventures, Mixi, and Blume Ventures.
What’s in it for ICC? The global cricket body has been looking to expand the commercial potential of one of the world’s most popular sports, with gaming a key part of that strategy.
“Mobile gaming in cricket will be bigger than the movies,” ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta reportedly told member boards in July last year.
The bottomline: Cricket is an obsession in India and among the Indian diaspora, but despite that massive audience, the sport has yet to produce a breakout global gaming title. LightFury hopes E-Cricket can become that.
- Other players in the space include Krafton’s Real Cricket, Dream Cricket (Dream11), and Nazara Technologies’ World Cricket Championship.
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