Krafton, Naver, Mirae Asset launch Rs 6,000-cr India fund
South Korean companies Krafton, Naver Corporation and Mirae Asset on Tuesday announced the launch of the Unicorn Growth Fund, a Rs 6,000-crore vehicle aimed at investing in high-growth Indian startups.
The announcement was made on the sidelines of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s visit to India, during which several memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed to deepen bilateral ties.
The fund will be managed by Mirae Asset Venture India, which has previously backed startups such as Zomato, BigBasket, Shadowfax, Dhan and KreditBee.
In December, the three firms had announced plans to set up the fund. Its formal launch took place this week following a meeting between commerce minister Piyush Goyal and South Korean minister of trade Jung-Kwan Kim.
The meeting was also attended by Krafton CEO CH Kim, the company’s India head Sean Sohn, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon, and Puneet Kumar, CEO of Mirae Asset Venture India.
According to a statement, the Unicorn Growth Fund will focus on multiple themes over the next decade, including consumer internet, digital marketplaces, digitally native brands and new-age consumer businesses, generative and applied AI, developer tooling, and deeptech areas such as semiconductors, spacetech, robotics and advanced materials.
“Over the next decade, we expect a new generation of Indian technology champions to be built in India, for the world. As fund manager and advisor of the Unicorn Growth Fund, Mirae Asset is privileged to bring together Krafton and Naver’s strategic capabilities with our on-the-ground investing platform in India,” Kumar said in the statement. He joined Mirae Asset Venture in January this year from Steadview Capital.
The firm is in talks to back instant househelp startup Snabbit with a $50-60 million cheque, ET had reported in March.
Krafton, which runs popular battle royale game Battlegrounds Mobile India, will commit an initial Rs 1,230 crore to the fund. Along with contributions from Naver, Mirae Asset and other investors, the fund is expected to begin operations with a corpus of over Rs 3,000 crore, scaling up to Rs 6,000 crore over time.
The move marks the first investment partnership between the three Korean firms.
“India is one of the most important markets for Krafton, not just for its scale but for its potential as a global game development hub. With a strong base of young, skilled technology talent and improving digital infrastructure, we see India evolving from a consumption-driven market into a creator economy for gaming. The Unicorn Growth Fund reflects our long-term commitment to this ecosystem,” CH Kim said.
In 2024, the company partnered with IMM Investment, a South Korean multi-asset fund managing about $7 billion, to back startups across sectors such as consumer technology, software-as-a-service (SaaS), fintech, gaming, media and deeptech.
The announcement was made on the sidelines of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s visit to India, during which several memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed to deepen bilateral ties.
The fund will be managed by Mirae Asset Venture India, which has previously backed startups such as Zomato, BigBasket, Shadowfax, Dhan and KreditBee.
In December, the three firms had announced plans to set up the fund. Its formal launch took place this week following a meeting between commerce minister Piyush Goyal and South Korean minister of trade Jung-Kwan Kim.
The meeting was also attended by Krafton CEO CH Kim, the company’s India head Sean Sohn, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon, and Puneet Kumar, CEO of Mirae Asset Venture India.
According to a statement, the Unicorn Growth Fund will focus on multiple themes over the next decade, including consumer internet, digital marketplaces, digitally native brands and new-age consumer businesses, generative and applied AI, developer tooling, and deeptech areas such as semiconductors, spacetech, robotics and advanced materials.
“Over the next decade, we expect a new generation of Indian technology champions to be built in India, for the world. As fund manager and advisor of the Unicorn Growth Fund, Mirae Asset is privileged to bring together Krafton and Naver’s strategic capabilities with our on-the-ground investing platform in India,” Kumar said in the statement. He joined Mirae Asset Venture in January this year from Steadview Capital.
The firm is in talks to back instant househelp startup Snabbit with a $50-60 million cheque, ET had reported in March.
Krafton, which runs popular battle royale game Battlegrounds Mobile India, will commit an initial Rs 1,230 crore to the fund. Along with contributions from Naver, Mirae Asset and other investors, the fund is expected to begin operations with a corpus of over Rs 3,000 crore, scaling up to Rs 6,000 crore over time.
The move marks the first investment partnership between the three Korean firms.
“India is one of the most important markets for Krafton, not just for its scale but for its potential as a global game development hub. With a strong base of young, skilled technology talent and improving digital infrastructure, we see India evolving from a consumption-driven market into a creator economy for gaming. The Unicorn Growth Fund reflects our long-term commitment to this ecosystem,” CH Kim said.
In 2024, the company partnered with IMM Investment, a South Korean multi-asset fund managing about $7 billion, to back startups across sectors such as consumer technology, software-as-a-service (SaaS), fintech, gaming, media and deeptech.
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