Travis Kalanick’s Atoms might be getting into the robotaxi business; plus, Krafton doubles down on India

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1:00Plus, there's Enterprise Great Security to protect all my info. Learn how you can get more out of your site from a Framer specialist, or get started building for free today at framer.com slash TC Startups for 30% off a Framer Pro Annual Plan. That's framer.com slash TC Startups for 30% off. Framer.com slash TC Startups, rules and restrictions may apply. Earlier this summer, Travis Kalanick's Addams announced a $1.7 billion funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. But even after raising that mega round, the Uber founder remained a bit cagey about what he was actually aiming to do. Well now a story in the Financial Times offers a little bit more detail about Addams Goals. The startup is reportedly preparing for a hiring spree, as well as acquisitions, and that could make it a major player in the autonomous vehicle industry. In fact, the Financial Times said Addams has talked to Uber about how the ride hailing

2:01company could use the startup's Robotaxi technology. Uber has already partnered with a long list of autonomous vehicle companies. The report also noted that Uber has invested $100 million in Addams, a figure previously confirmed by TechCrunch. While sources emphasized that Robotaxis do not represent the entirety of Addams plans, this direction seems consistent with Kalanick's description of the round as unfinished business. It also fits with Addams' acquisition of Pronto, an autonomous mining startup led by Uber's former self-driving chief Anthony Levindalski. Levindalski was convicted of stealing trade secrets and sentenced to 18 months in prison. That was then pardoned by President Donald Trump. Krafton, the South Korean gaming company behind titles including PUBG and Battlegrounds Mobile India, plans to invest another $250 million in India over the next three to four

3:01years, as it pushes beyond gaming into AI, Robotax, and DeepTech. Announce last week, the new commitment will take Krafton's total planned investment in India to more than $500 million, including the over $250 million it had already invested in the country since 2021. The funds also come in addition to Krafton's commitment to a $670 million India-focused growth fund it unveiled with South Korean internet conglomerate neighbor and investor Morey Asset in December of last year. At the time, Krafton said it would contribute around $137 million at the fund's first close. The new $250 million pledge is separate from the growth fund. India has become a key market for Krafton, giving the gaming publisher access to the world's most populous country, with more than a billion internet subscribers and over 700 million smartphone users.

4:02Britain initially built its India business around gaming, led by BGMI, a revamped and localized version of PUBG that has surpassed 260 million downloads. In recent years, the company has also used investments in Indian startups to broaden its business beyond games. Krafton's run in India has not always been smooth, though, the Indian government banned PUBG mobile in 2020, along with hundreds of Chinese linked apps as tensions between New Delhi and Beijing escalated. Krafton stepped in after that and introduced BGMI in 2021. The company dropped 10 cent games as the game's publisher in India and moved its India servers to Microsoft's Azure Cloud, changes that came as Krafton worked to address New Delhi's concerns. But in 2022, BGMI was itself banned in India, before the federal government allowed its to return on a three-month trial basis the following year.

5:05Krafton has continued to build around the franchise since its return and plans to launch BGMI light in India by the end of this year. Despite the early setbacks, Krafton continues to invest in India and has so far backed about 18 companies, including 45 gaming studios, the company confirms to tech crunch. Its investments include not-win gaming, loco, kukku FM, and one impression among others. The new investment commitment comes after Krafton chairman Chong Biong-Gu met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi earlier on Friday of last week. The two discussed opportunities for India and South Korea to work more closely across gaming, technology, and other emerging sectors. Krafton has also been building out its local operations. Last year it acquired Poon-based Nautilus Mobile, the studio behind the real cricket franchise. The company also recently launched an industry academia program aimed at training talent in

6:06gaming development and digital creation. That's all for now, but the latest in tech startup news, go to techcrunch.com.