MIXI, a Japanese mobile entertainment company, has announced the launch of its India-first $50 million Corporate Venture Capital (CVC).
The brand aims at empowering early-stage entertainment startups in the country. The initiative is a reflection of MIXI’s commitment to fostering innovation in communication and entertainment in emerging countries, informed an official statement.
The focus of the CVC will be on startups in the entertainment sector and consumer services.
The statement noted that the number of smartphone users in India is increasing rapidly with around half the population owning a smartphone. Hence digital entertainment market centered around smartphones is also growing rapidly, and the mobile game market is projected to be valued at 1 trillion yen by FY2027, it added.
Tomoharu Urabe, Principal Partner, MIXI Global Investments, Inc., said, “We believe in India’s startup ecosystem especially in the sector of digital entertainment. MIXI is a business operator in social network and mobile entertainment apps. We are committed to contribute to startups’ growth with our industry knowledge and assets, and positively impacting the startup ecosystem in India.“
From FY2019-FY2022, MIXI claims to have made investments totaling around 70 billion yen to develop new pillars of business and creating synergies with existing businesses.
It plans to use 30 to 50 billion yen on mergers and acquisitions and capital and business alliances in the three years from FY23 to FY25.
“We’re focusing investments on overseas markets, including emerging markets, and are aiming to create global businesses and strengthen global synergies. Under this plan, we will invest in the rapidly-growing market of India and leverage our assets and expertise in our B2C services in the digital entertainment area to create synergies with portfolio companies,” the statement added.
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