Developer of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), Krafton, is planning to engage an investment of $10 million in One Impression, an influencer marketing platform. As per the information received, the said investment will take place as a forming part of a funding round investment.
The company has its strong presence in the Indian markets, firstly with Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) which was later banned by the central government ministry due to similar reasons as PUBG Mobile. Meanwhile, as the ban on its popular mobile game continues, the company has diversified its investments through engagements in other companies like LOCO and Nodwin Gaming.
The company in talks here, One Impression, was co-founded by Apaksh Gupta and Jivesh Gupta, which raised over $1 million in funding last year according to Livemint. Both Apaksh and Jivesh owns about 83% of the startup, while the investors have 13.6% stake in the company.
The investors include, former VP and head of business products at Meta, Karandeep Anand, co-founders of Vedantu, Vamsi Krishna and Anand Prakash, MamaEarth co-founder Varun Alagh, People Group founder Anupam Mittal, Livspace co-founder Ramakant Sharma. Apart from renowned investors, the round has also received the interests of celebrity personalities like Neeraj Chopra, Zakir Khan, and Masoom Minawala.
Since funding, One Impression has made a name for itself while working with popular brands, like Nestle, Amazon, Mars, Mamaearth, Zomato, Bumble, Pinterest, ShareChat, Paytm, and OYO. The company provides influencer marketing services and operates globally with presence in over 12 countries.
Krafton also faced a big blow after BGMI was banned, however the company is hopeful of bringing the game back while rectifying the existing issues, and has also made a strong investment strategy for India allies in the gaming industry.
In December 2022, the company announced their interest in investing into metaverse and Web 3.0 gaming in 2023. CEO of Krafton India, Sean Hyunil Sohn claimed that the company has lofty goals for the subcontinent’s gaming culture and also plans to introduce new and exciting games in the market.
Following the news of investment rounds, One Impression has received interests from big names in the industry owing to the growing revenues that it has had. Speaking of numbers, the company claims to reach the revenue of $40 million by the end of this financial year. With the investment from Krafton and others, the company will seek to reach further expansion.