Rohit Sharma Backs LightFury Games: Inside the $19.5 Million Bet on India’s Gaming Future

What happens when some of India’s biggest cricket stars start investing in the same gaming startup?

LightFury Games may have an answer.

Rohit Sharma joins LightFury Games

The Bengaluru-based gaming company has raised $19.5 million across two funding rounds and is now attracting a remarkable roster of Indian cricket talent as strategic investors.

The latest name to join the list is Rohit Sharma, who has invested in LightFury Games. The size and terms of his investment have not been disclosed.

And he is far from the first major cricketer to back the company

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A growing list of cricket-star investors

Founded in 2024 by Karan Shroff, Anurag Banerjee and Tina Balachandran, LightFury Games raised an $8.5 million seed round in 2024, followed by an $11 million Pre-Series A round in April 2026.

The latest round brought institutional investors including Blume Ventures, V3 Ventures, MIXI Global Investments and Times Internet.

It also attracted some of India's biggest cricket names, including:

• MS Dhoni

• Jasprit Bumrah

• Hardik Pandya

• Shreyas Iyer

• Ravindra Jadeja

• Tilak Varma

• Sai Sudharsan

• Rohit Sharma

The combination of institutional capital and cricket-star backing gives the company an unusual position in India's growing gaming ecosystem.

The big bet: eCricket

At the centre of LightFury's strategy is eCricket, a mobile-first cricket gaming franchise being built for a global audience.

The company isn't simply looking to launch another cricket game. Its larger ambition is to build a globally competitive gaming franchise from India.

Rohit Sharma will also become an officially licensed playable player within the game, creating a direct connection between one of cricket's biggest stars and the gaming experience.

The game's phased closed beta is scheduled to begin in September 2026, with more than 300,000 users already signed up, according to the company.

Building with scale in mind

LightFury has already built a team of 120+ developers and industry professionals, signalling the scale of the company's ambition.

Its journey so far also reflects a broader shift in India's gaming ecosystem.

India has a massive gaming audience, but the opportunity is increasingly moving beyond simply being a market for global gaming companies. Startups such as LightFury are attempting to build intellectual property, products and franchises that can compete internationally.

That makes the company's investor roster particularly interesting.

These cricket stars are not just lending their names to the venture. Their involvement brings together sports, entertainment, technology and consumer gaming around a single bet.

From cricket stars to a global gaming franchise

LightFury has now raised $19.5 million, built a team of more than 120 people and attracted hundreds of thousands of potential users before its closed beta has even begun.

The bigger question is what happens next.

Can a cricket game built in India become a global gaming franchise?

With institutional investors on board, some of India's biggest cricket stars backing the company and eCricket preparing for its next stage, LightFury Games is clearly betting that the answer is yes.

And with Rohit Sharma now in the lineup, the bet just got a lot more interesting.