Krafton, the South Korean video game creators, have led in the $6.5 million Series A funding round for a new startup called FRND. Existing investors such as India Quotient and Elevation Capital also participated in this funding round but Krafton Inc. invested the highest amount of them all.
FRND is a new audio romance and friend discovery startup based in Bangalore. It was founded in 2019 by IIT Kanpur alumnus Bhanu Pratap Singh Tanwar, Hardik Bansal, and Harshvardhan Chhangani.
Krafton Inc. is widely known in India by the gaming community. They have developed famous games like PUBG and BGMI, the local version of PUBG Mobile. Krafton has also invested in Indian companies like Nodwin Gaming and Loco and this is yet another large investment.
Krafton had earlier pledged to invest a huge sum of $100 million in India to grow the industry and such investments are the results of their commitment.
FRND brings a unique approach in dating apps market with unique live-streamed features and games to provide a chance at bonding on a much deeper level for youth.
Talking about FRND, the company CEO said the following:
“There is a huge untapped opportunity in the Indian romance market, where youngsters connect and interact with the opposite gender over the internet. We have been working towards providing a safer platform to the Indian youth, especially girls. With this funding, we are looking at growing FRND from the current 10 Indian languages, strengthening our technology ecosystem and increasing our footprint both within India and internationally ”
– FRND CEO Bhanu Pratap Singh Tanwar