Mobile game development company Lila Games has raised $10 million in Series A funding for its free-to-play mobile game studio. The team is working on a mobile shooter game. In November 2020, the company has raised $2.8 million.
The company is tapping game developers in India to build its games and has a developer presence in Bangalore, India. The company was launched in 2020 with Kim, former chief product officer at Sega and ex-studio lead at FunPlus; Paul Leydon, former lead game designer at FunPlus and MZ; and Avinash Pandey, previous co-founder of June Gaming and a Y Combinator alumni as key people.
Kim led the overall development of the hit 4X title King of Avalon. The third founder is Avinash Pandey, who has led development on over 50 mobile apps and games, including the real-time multiplayer shooter Mask Gun according to Venture Beat generated over 40 million organic installs. Pandey is based in India and will help establish the studio there.
This round was led by Rainfall and included participation from BITKRAFT Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, Sequoia Capital, and KRAFTON, Inc. In addition, notable angel investors also participated including Ryan Wyatt, CEO of Polygon Studios, Tanay Tayal, Co-founder and CEO of Moonfrog Labs, and Thomas Vu, producer of Arcane: League of Legends.
Lila Games will use the investment to develop their first title and to further build out their Bangalore, India-based team, said Joseph Kim in an interview with GamesBeat.
“We started the company to try and create a different type of organization. So I had been working in mobile game publishing for a number of years, and I just felt that there was a better way to structure and organize and create a different kind of company,” Kim was quoted by Venture Beat. “Given what’s happening in the world, today, we’re starting to see a lot of companies springing up in different areas. When we thought about potential opportunities to build a new studio, we looked at India and we felt very encouraged by the fact that there was a very smart labor force there. ”
“We see this as an opportunity to take gaming in the right direction,” Kim said. “And in India, we felt there were a number of people who wanted to become the best but didn’t have that opportunity. I personally was very excited about India and developing an opportunity platform there.”
Kim said that it turned out to be a great time to raise money, as gaming has seen a boom in the pandemic and investors are pouring money into game companies. Likewise, Kim sees a boom happening in the Indian market, with more talented developers emerging. The company will use its team in India to make games for the global market.