Studio Sirah to take its first card game globally with $2.6m funding

• The round is led by Kalaari Capital and Lumikai.
• Hopes to not only entertain Indian gamers but to take a slice of India to the world at large.

India-bred game developer – Studio Sirah – plans to globally launch its flagship gaming title, Kurukshetra: Ascension, by June 2023, with the $2.6 million raised in a Pre-series A round led by Kalaari Capital and its seed investor -Lumikai.

In addition, the funds will also help to build out their second title, which will go even further in terms of ambition and scope.

Prior to this, Studio Sirah had raised $830,000 in September, 2021 in its Seed round led by Lumikai and a pool of renowned angels such as 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).

Cultural resonance

“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,” Abhaas Shah, Co-founder and CEO of Studio Sirah, said.

Over the coming decades, he said that they hope to not only entertain Indian gamers but to take a slice of India to the world at large.

Kurukshetra: Ascension, their first tile,  is a free-to-play card battler and themed on India’s two great epics – the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Players don the 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 thrilling online duels.

The studio is now adding in an expansive story mode (Ascension) – a grand tale of warring gods, conflicting philosophy, and the nature of Dharma itself, where player choices determine the fate of the universe.

Strong demand for Indian IP

With over 120,000 organic downloads in beta, Kurukshetra-Ascension is available in early access on Play Store and Steam. Their current user base is deeply engaged, with a DAU/ MAU ratio exceeding 20 per cent and average session times of over 25 minutes.

Vamshi Krishna Reddy, Partner at Kalaari Capital, said that 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. When we first met Abhaas and Prateek, we were in awe of the passion with which they were building Kurukshetra and saw a clear whitespace. With stellar artwork and innovative gameplay – Kurukshetra has already garnered a lot of appreciation from users and we are excited with what lies ahead.”

“Our recently published ‘India State of Gaming 2022 survey indicates that 80 per cent of players have a strong tendency to play games with Indian IP, and we believe that games with culturally resonant themes have the potential to significantly disrupt the Indian gaming market – especially in the midcore category,” Justin Shriram Keeling, Founding General Partner at, Lumikai, said