Japanese digital entertainment firm MIXI has put aside a corpus of $50 million (practically ₹414 crore) to spend money on early-stage startups in India’s B2C gaming and digital leisure trade over 3-4 years, a senior official mentioned.

MIXI Global Investments, the newly introduced enterprise fund, will function an funding car for the Tokyo-based firm to determine and assist promising startups in India.

“Our primary focus is the digital entertainment sector in India, and I have been meeting many startups across India for quite some time…There are many gaming studios coming in India, and I like the ecosystem around them such as streaming services for gaming and also esports is one area that I think would be really fitting,” Tomoharu Urabe, principal accomplice, MIXI Global Investments, instructed ET.

He added the corporate sees India as a giant alternative resulting from its working-age inhabitants anticipated to develop till 2050, together with the variety of smartphone customers with 50% of the inhabitants already proudly owning a smartphone.

The firm mentioned the digital leisure market centered round smartphones can also be rising quickly, and the cellular gaming market is anticipated to be valued at 1 trillion JPY (‘58,000 crore) by FY27.

“More and more people are starting to spend their time on mobile entertainment. So, we believe that there are strong demands for the services that build deeper, meaningful connections in India.We hope to support those portfolio companies with our industry knowledge,” Urabe mentioned.Urabe mentioned MIXI is within the technique of organising a crew in India, based mostly out of Bengaluru, and might be investing in startups on the seed stage until pre-series B rounds.