Have you developed a game but don’t have any money to launch it and don’t have any contacts in the investment world who may back it? A new accelerator program called GameFounders has just been launched. It claims to be the first major accelerator to focus on game development (mobile games, social games, video games etc.).
The accelerator is open to any kind of game, so long as its been launched or it’s in beta. GameFounders also says on its site that mobile games are more likely to get investment at this time.
For a 9% stake in your games business, you will get €15,000. You will also have to move to the Estonian Capital of Tallinn for three months of intense development. On hand, there will be 60+ gaming veterans, CEOs and developers as mentors and access to gaming investment funds, VCs and angels.
“We accelerate startups that include result-oriented team of executioners from all countries, who: build games, gamified apps, platforms, tools or other game related products,” say the founders of the accelerator Kadri Ugand, Lauri Antalainen, Sven Illing, and Paul Bragiel (who is also a partner at i/o venturtes).
The reason Estonia was chosen by the founders as the location for the program is that it is the easiest country in Europe to set up a business. You can set up bank accounts, get VAT numbers and acquire a Ltd. company status within days. This is something the Irish Government needs to look into. Ireland remains a very difficult and complex place to establish a business and if it is to attract games developers it needs to be attractive to them.
