As the world’s first female General Partner in an interactive media and gaming venture capital (VC) fund, Salone Sehgal has paved the way for a new generation of women in gaming and investment. At the helm of Lumikai Fund – India’s pioneering early-stage interactive media VC – Salone has been instrumental in catalyzing India’s gaming and interactive media sector. With over $100M in targeted investments, she is shaping the future of this burgeoning industry, backing visionary entrepreneurs who are redefining digital entertainment in India.
Beyond her investment expertise, Salone brings over 15 years of experience across venture capital, entrepreneurship, and mergers & acquisitions. As a former Principal at London Venture Partners and Co-founder & CEO of TrulySocial, she has a unique perspective on what it takes to build successful gaming enterprises. Recognized among the Top 50 Women Gamechangers and a Jury Member for the BAFTA Games Awards, she continues to champion diversity and inclusion in gaming, fostering an ecosystem that nurtures underrepresented voices. On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2025 and through this exclusive interview, Salone shares her insights on the evolving gaming investment landscape, the rise of women-led startups, and the transformative power of interactive media. Edited excerpts follow:
How have you seen the investment landscape evolve for women-led startups?
As a female General Partner in an interactive media and games VC fund, I’ve witnessed a clear shift in the investment landscape, one that recognizes the power of female audiences and female-led innovation. Today, nearly 44% of gamers are female, contributing to a 591M gamer market in India. The broader interactive media industry is a $12.5B market, growing at 16% CAGR, and globally with platforms like Instagram with 60–70% of their users female and Pinterest with nearly 90% of their users women clearly prove the demand for women-focused digital experiences.
The most promising opportunities lie in building diverse, immersive experiences for women – be it global gaming IPs, social simulation games, fashion, or design-based interactive experiences. At Lumikai, we have been proud to be early backers of trailblazing women-led companies like Vobble, founded by Neha Sharma & Sowmya Jagannath, building multi-sensory audio entertainment platform for children, and Frammer AI, led by Suparna Singh, who are building an AI-powered end to end creative video studio designed to make premium video content digital-ready for global enterprises.
What key trends in the interactive media and gaming sectors excite you the most?
While AI dominates global conversations, India’s interactive entertainment market is quietly reshaping digital consumption and monetization and taking over wallet share of Indian consumers. The landscape is being driven by virtual gifting, short-form video, AI-first digital platforms, and mobile gaming, creating new monetization avenues and audience behaviors.
Also read: Women in Gaming: Zynga’s Poornima Seetharaman on Future of Gaming
Monetization is accelerating, with in-app purchases and micro-transactions seeing double-digit growth, and ARPPUs surging 10x to $22 in five years. The 18-24 demographic is leading this charge, driving 43% of all in-app purchases. Platforms like Eloelo are capitalizing on creator monetization, while original IP in gaming for India leveraging local culture and themes like Studio Sirah and Mayhem Studios are tapping into the need for immersive, India-first entertainment experiences.
What storytelling elements or game design innovations have proven most effective in engaging global female audiences?
Engaging female audiences in gaming requires a deeper understanding of design psychology and player motivation. Studies show that women often seek creativity, relaxation, and inspiration over adrenaline-fueled progression loops. Design choices that emphasize social collaboration drive engagement in women users. Games like Covet Fashion and Design Home have succeeded in the past, by offering aesthetic, aspirational experiences that mimic real world creativity rather than enforcing competitive stress. With female players 79% more likely to make in-app purchases, making thoughtful UX and inclusive storytelling key to unlocking this massive user base.
What common pitfalls do you observe in gaming startups, and how can founders best mitigate these risks?
Raising too much capital too soon, leading to unsustainable burn. Lacking laser focus on key metrics like retention, engagement, and user acquisition, which are critical for long-term success. Games require a precise balance of creativity and data-driven execution. A common pitfall is over-indexing on either the art or the science. Lastly, culture is a competitive advantage, without a strong, empowering environment, retaining top talent becomes a challenge.
How do you assess the potential of emerging technologies like AI when evaluating new investments in gaming?
AI is transforming interactive media and gaming across moderation, QA, coding, and asset generation, unlocking significant opportunities. AI-driven moderation tools are improving real-time voice and text safety, while automated playtesting is reducing manual QA time and enhancing game balance. AI-powered coding assistants are accelerating development workflows, and generative AI is revolutionizing asset creation, from 3D modeling and animation to personalized game environments.
Also read: Two talented Indian women are reimagining gaming for better: Here’s how
These innovations streamline production, reduce costs, and enable new levels of scalability and thus opportunity for newer players to take on more entrenched market leaders. As an industry, gaming stands at the vanguard of innovation with consumer trends adapting to current zeitgeist. The winners during each innovation phase are those companies which adapt with agility and foresight.
How do you see venture capital playing a role in fostering diversity within the gaming industry?
At Lumikai, we launched Pathbreakers, an initiative to spotlight and celebrate women making an impact in India’s gaming and interactive media industry. We believe that “If you can’t see it, you can’t be it”. Over four editions, we have featured over 100 trailblazing women, from game designers and developers to founders and streamers from the interactive media and gaming industries to drive the dialogue on the need for higher representation in the industry. With 44% of gamers in India women, and as India’s gaming industry grows, we hope to see even more diverse voices shaping its future.
The lines between gaming, digital media, and social networking are increasingly blurred, what implications does it have for future gaming content and community building?
The convergence of gaming, digital media, and social networking is reshaping user experiences, shifting from lean back passive consumption to lean forward active participation. Today’s audiences expect interactive, immersive, and social-first content, as seen in live-streaming, virtual gifting, and creator-driven experiences. With AI further accelerating this shift by powering personalized content, interactive storytelling, and delivering efficiencies, it is clear that in the future immersion and interactivity are not just enhancements but essential elements of our lives. The next ten years in the media will look nothing like the last ten years.
Any advice for young professionals who want to make a career in gaming industry?
Gaming is now mainstream in India, with over 591M gamers, an industry bigger than Bollywood and at par with cricket. With esports now a medal event at the Olympics, and extended governmental support in accelerating growth in the sector with initiatives like the WAVES summit and AVGC-XR centres and even getting recognition by Prime Minister Modi during his Independence Day speech, the gaming and interactive media ecosystem is creating a lot of opportunities. From streamers, creators, and esports athletes to coders, designers, and animation artists, it is the right time for young Indians to be part of the interactive media and gaming ecosystem.
Also read: Women in Gaming speak about gaming in India, their challenges and opportunities
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Jayesh Shinde
Executive Editor at Digit. Technology journalist since Jan 2008, with stints at Indiatimes.com and PCWorld.in. Enthusiastic dad, reluctant traveler, weekend gamer, LOTR nerd, pseudo bon vivant. View Full Profile
