Studio Sirah raises $2.6M in pre-Series A led by Kalaari Capital, Lumikai

Bengaluru based Game company Studio Sirah raises $2.6 m in a pre-Series A round led by early-stage VC firm Kalaari Capital, and its seed investor, Lumikai.

The company plans to utilise the funds to globally launch its flagship gaming title, Kurukshetra: Ascension, by June 2023. In addition, the funds will also help to build out their second title, which will go even further in terms of ambition and scope.

Kurukshetra: Ascension’ is a free-to-play card battle strategy game themed on India’s two great epics – the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Players can choose roles of ancient legends such as Arjuna and Sugriva, collect divine Astras and mythical creatures (from Apsaras to Daityas), and battle it out to the top in online duels.

Abhaas Shah, Co-founder & CEO, Studio Sirah said: “Over the last year, we have worked hard to build a mid-core gaming studio from scratch, and launched a game which has both cultural resonance and global quality. The response has been amazing, both in India and abroad, and it is evident that there is a huge (and growing) market for uniquely Indian content.”

He further added, “Over the coming decades, we hope to not only entertain Indian gamers, but to take a slice of India to the world at large”.

Vamshi Krishna Reddy, Partner at Kalaari Capital said, “The Midcore genre like CCGs has done well globally, including China and Japan – but is severely under-penetrated in the Indian market. There is immense potential for more core IPs to come out of India.”

Justin Shriram Keeling, Founding General Partner, Lumikai said, “We’re are immensely proud of Abhaas and Prateek for building such a high-quality midcore game studio over the last year. Kurukshetra Ascension has been lighting up the community and is widely anticipated ahead of its full release next quarter.”

Studio Sirah had raised $830,000 in September, 2021 in its seed round led by Lumikai and a pool of angel investors including Akshat Rathee (founder, Nodwin Games), Alexis Bonte (chief operating officer, Stillfront Games), Piyush Shah (cofounder, Inmobi), Roshni Rathi (partner, BCG), and Sameer Pitalwalla (Head Of Gaming, Google Cloud).