Lumikai

Check fit first

• Lumikai invests only in interactive media, digital platforms and games. Read the thesis page and the request-for-startups post before you reach out.

Ways in

• Pixels form: the Apply Now button on the Pixels page is the clearest route for idea, MVP and early-customer founders. Applying is free.
• General contact: hello@lumikai.com, or the contact form on the site.

Prepare

• Lumikai says a well-articulated idea, in as much detail as possible, improves your chances. It also says you can apply while still in a job, as a solo founder, or after raising an angel round.
• Lumikai's stated values include honesty and clarity: skip the polished elevator pitch and say plainly what you are building and why.
• The site states no deadline for Pixels, so apply when you are ready, and expect a first review within the week according to the page.
• This is an investment fund, not a grant: Pixels is described as a way to raise a first cheque, and the site does not say how equity is handled, so ask before you apply.

Lumikai is a venture fund based in Gurugram that backs one area only: interactive media, digital platforms and games in India. It describes its purpose as pioneering, catalysing and shaping the future of that space, and it invests in founders it calls change-makers. The fund is registered with SEBI as a Category II alternative investment fund, and the contact page names Lumikai Fund II and its manager, Lumikai Interactive II LLP.

What it backs

The thesis page sets out five areas: platforms that unbundle legacy ones across social media, gaming, streaming, audio, esports and interactive video; technology and infrastructure that act as picks and shovels for the digital economy; systems of play, meaning gamified experiences that disrupt older industries; frontier technology such as AR and VR, spatial computing, blockchain and generative AI; and content, including gaming studios, new-age media and anime. If your company sits outside games, media or interactive consumer products, this is probably not your fund.

Stage and how to get in

Lumikai runs Pixels, an initiative for founders at the idea, MVP or first-customer stage, with a funding offer, cloud credits, office hours and mentorship. Pixels has an Apply Now form on the Lumikai site, and applying is free. The same site invests at seed stage as well, but it does not publish a separate form for that, so the route in is the Pixels form, the general contact form or hello@lumikai.com.

It also publishes a request for startups, a list of themes it is excited about, from consumer audio and gamified fintech to AI-assisted game development, animation and VFX tools, messenger-based games, cricket games, comics and anime, and games for women. Reading it before you write in tells you whether your idea fits.

What founders should know

The about page lists collaboration, integrity, clarity and passion as the values it looks for, and says to ditch the elevator pitch and talk to it from the heart. The team page describes founders and operators from gaming, entertainment and media, led by Salone Sehgal as Founder and Managing Partner. Lumikai also publishes a blog and an interview series with media and finance leaders, which show how the partners think. The site does not state a fixed intake window or selection committee schedule, so write when you are ready and be specific about your product, your players or audience, and what you need from a lead investor.