The first gaming accelerator in Europe
AS FEATURED IN:
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WE OFFER:
- 80+ gaming gurus, CEOs and developers as mentors,
- seed capital up to €15k (5k per founder present in Estonia) for a 9% share in your company,
- game-targeted partnership deals,
- game incubator with 3-months of free office space in a cool brand-new building in Tallinn
- access to networks of gaming contacts and
- access to gaming investment funds, VCs and angels.
- The next batch will be in Tallinn from September to November 2013.
APPLICATION DEADLINE June 20, 2013!
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.
Check our program
Gaming is skyrocketing!
The Game Accelerator program is built on these four cornerstones:
- competence,
- partnership deals,
- network and
- funding.
Competence
Our startups have access to the competence of 60+ gaming veterans, CEOs, CFOs and developers. This cool bunch will help you with all the gaming competence you need.
Awesome mentoring sessions, numerous pitching opportunities, insightful seminars, hands-on practical workshops, one-on-one expert consultations are the opportunities you do not want to miss!
Partnership deals
Our startups are eligible for various partnership deals from the day they are accepted to the accelerator. The free or discounted deals will be valid also after your graduation.
Some examples are server space, licenses, development tools, office and conference rooms, access to publishers, game testing facilities, legal services, accounting services, banking services, interns, etc. Interested?
Network
Our startups have access to the networks of our mentors, partners, and team. So let's do some basic math. Take the number of our mentors, multiply it with the average number of their linkedin contacts and you get the network available to our startups.
GameFounders builds its network around our startups to best suit the needs of the current class. So if you need a contact, we will find a way to get it.
Funding
GameFounders has a network of angels and VCs interested in gaming startups. The startups will get several opportunities to practice and present to international VCs, corporate and angel investors as our Demo Days held in Tallinn, Helsinki, London and San Francisco.
Our startups also get a moderate amount of game funding upon acceptance to the accelerator. This amount covers accommodation and other living expenses for the team while living in Estonia.
Meet our mentors.
-
Grand Cru
Markus Pasula
CEO & Co-Founder
Mobile Games, Social Games, Self-Publishing, Tools, Tech
Finland
-
Zynga
Dali Kilani
CTO External Publishing
Game infrastructure, Performance, Analytics, Big Data
USA
-
Creative Mobile OÜ
Vladimir Funtikov
co-founder
mobile game design, business models, promotion and publishing, funding
Estonia
-
Alchemist Accelerator
Ravi Belani
Managing Partner
Venture Capital & Private Equity
USA
-
Context Digital Media
Thom Kozik
CEO
computer games
USA
-
Visceral Games
Dmitry Andreev
Senior Rendering Engineer
computer games
USA
-
Aalto Venture Garage
Mika Tammenkoski
entrepreneur
wireless
Finland
-
V7 Entertainment
Mike Cornford
Director, Business Development
Business Development, Strategy, Communication, Client and Partner Relations
Canada
-
Orb Games
Andriy Sharanevych
Developer and Publisher
Online and Mobile Games
Ukraine
-
Non-Stop Games
Juha Paananen
CEO & Co-Founder
wireless
Singapore
-
Quinke Networks
Achim Quinke
Managing Director
computer games
Germany
-
Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Utrecht
Micah Hrehovcsik
Lead Game Designer & Theorist
Game Design, Creative Design Strategies
Netherlands
-
Burger Games
Ville Vuorela
Game Designer
Game Design, Writing, Concept Pitching
Finland
-
publification.com
Yrjö Ojasaar
CEO
monetisation, venture capital, angel funding
Estonia
-
Epic Games
Waylon Brinck
Art Director
computer games
Poland
-
Nortal
Siim Puskai
Visual team manager
community building, game mechanics, MMO, educational games, UX
Estonia
-
Festival of Games
Seth van der Meer
Chairman of the board
Building Startups, Pitching, Playtesting, Designing for young target groups (-12 years)
Netherlands
-
Grand Cru
Roope Kangas
Co-Founder
computer games
Finland
-
Business Models Inc
Patrick Van Der Pijl
CEO
Business Modeling, Visualization, Storytelling, Strategy
Netherlands
-
BitMinion
Moo Yu
Game Developer
computer games
UK
-
ZeroTurnaround
Mirko Adari
Product Engineer
computer software
Estonia
-
Big Boat Interactive
Mike Arkin
Captain
startup game production, financial modeling
USA
-
Candycane Apps
Michael Bevin
co-founder
Puzzle games, Gameplay, iOS, Android, C++ "
Estonia
-
Egmont
Maz Spork
Head of Project Office and Innovation
computer games
Denmark
-
Raylight S.r.l.
Massimiliano Di Monda
CEO
computer games
Italy
-
Tiny Speck
Märt Lume
Creative Production Manager
game design, technical spec, game balance, online collaboration tools
Canada
-
Creative Mobile OÜ
Marianna Krjakvina
CMO
Marketing, Monetization and Game Design
Estonia
-
Infinite Dreams
Marek Wyszynski
Vice President & Co-Founder
computer games
Poland
-
Knowit Estonia OÜ
Kaspar Loog
Founder and CEO
computer software
Estonia
-
Guild Software, Inc.
John Bergman
Founder and CEO
computer games
USA
-
WNB Project Ltd.
Ivar Siimar
Partner
Venture Capital & Private Equity
Estonia
-
Interactive Entertainment Consultant
Scott Foe
Game Producer
Entrepreneurship, Fund Raising, Creative Monetization
USA
-
Sabarasa Inc.
Javier Otaegui
CEO
computer games
Argentina
-
Vivid Games S.A.
Remigiusz Koscielny
President, CEO
publishing, design and UI, production, leadership
Poland
-
Fortumo
Rain Rannu
Founder
payment solutions
Estonia
-
Traindom
Peep Laja
Founder
marketing
USA
-
Realeyes
Mihkel Jäätma
Managing Director
IT
UK
-
Kwestr
Frank Yu
CEO and Co-Founder
computer games
China
-
Casualing
Ian McGee
VP Product & co-founder
computer games
USA
-
Creative Spark Studios
Frederik Hermund
Owner
Flash Game Development
Denmark
-
GameOn GmbH
Daniel Sczepansky
CEO
computer software
Germany
-
Flirtic.com
Andres Susi
CEO
internet
Estonia
-
MunkyFun
Cory Bloyd
Senior Software Engineer
mobile games, mid-core market, technical issues
USA
-
Rate Solutions Ltd
Andrei Korobeinik
CEO
development, usability, customer acquisition
Estonia
-
Tribe Studios
Elina Arponen
Chieftain
online gaming, customer demographics, teambuilding, fundraising
Finland
-
Mooncascade
Priit Salumaa
Co-founder, Mobile Software Engineer
mobile software
Estonia
-
Playtest Games and Marketing
Edvin Aedma
CEO & game design teacher
indie games
Estonia
-
Ringtail Studios
Anton Iljin
CEO
Art outsourcing management, art production for games
Estonia
-
Nordic Game
Erik Robertson
Managing Director
computer games
Sweden
-
Ascension Media Group
Nick Perret
partner
Venture capital for the creative industries
UK
-
AudioCatch
Kyn Chaturvedi
Co-founder
Game Design, Game Production, Studio Management
USA
-
Chat Republic Games
Andreas von Koskull
CEO
Metrics, Distribution, Service orientated games, Mobile
Finland
-
Kreinn
Frank Laurens Jansen
partner
finance
Netherlands
-
Games Capital
Fred Hasson
chair
Venture capital
UK
-
Corona Labs
David Rangel
COO
mobile software
USA
-
Highwinds Game Delivery Network
Jay Moore
Vice President
marketing
USA
-
PlayerDuel
Yaniv Presler
CEO
gaming software
USA
-
W3i
Ben Sipe
Mobile Games Producer
User Acquisition & Monetization
USA
-
Grand Cru
Thorbjörn Warin
Marketing & Business Development Director
marketing
Finland
-
Perimeter Partners
Jason Della Rocca
Senior Consultant
computer games
Canada
-
Blitz Games Studios
Neil Holmes
Developer Relations Manager
game development
UK
-
PlayerDuel
Nir Markus
CTO
tools to game developers
USA
-
Bounding Box
Marcus Landén
founder
pitching, computer games, entrepreneurship
Sweden
-
Prodeo Consulting
Luc Bourcier
Partner
Videogames & Media Publishing & Distribution
France
-
Applifier
Jussi Laakkonen
CEO, founder
computer games
Finland
-
6waves/ Lolapps
Brian Rue
Former Co-founder/CTO
metrics, scalability, virality, FB APIs
USA
-
Kanttarelli
Jani Karlsson
co-founder
Mobile Solutions
Finland
-
Boomzap Entertainment
Allan Simonsen
co-founder
virtual studio management
Singapore
-
Unity Technologies
Oleg Pridiuk
Technology Evangelist
Unity
Lithuania
-
Research In Motion (RIM)
Anders Jeppsson
Global Head of Gaming Category
gaming
Sweden
-
Facebook
Andreas van de Castel
Manager Gaming Partnerships Northern Europe & CEE
Social, Mobile Games, Marketing
Germany
-
Bizup
Matteo Monari
co-founder
SEO, online marketing
Italy
Admire our partners
GameFounders is supported by partners, who also believe in the gaming industry
Our partners offer their services to startups for free or at a considerable discount:
-
Microsoft gives the startups access to software development tools and BizSpark program
-
Startup Estonia program welcomes all gaming startups to Estonia
-
Google is committed to helping build vibrant startup ecosystems and to supporting future entrepreneurs. This beta program provides Google products to developers to help startups launch and scale their big ideas more quickly
-
Nokia is our hardware partner providing the startups kickass phones
-
Unity provides GameFounders startups access to the newest software
-
Highwinds Game Delivery Network powers GameFounders' startups' digital game downloads
-
BDA Consulting designs business models for startups
-
Advisio helps realise funding opportunities
-
Tehnopol science park provides us office space and development support
-
British Council supports the startups with UK mentors and network
-
Festival of Games helps our startups Pitch & Match.
-
W3i provides GameFounders startups with monetization and user acquisition solutions
-
Softlayer provides GameFounders' teams with hosting, mentoring and marketing
-
Corona Labs provides our startups with Corona SDK Pro licenses
-
Tallink is GameFounders' travel partner
-
Nordic Game provides the startups access to the nordic gaming scene
-
Sorianen is our legal partner helping us with all contracting issues
-
Audiocatch provides GameFounders' startups discounted audio production services for music, sound effects, and voice over
-
EMT lets the GameFounders teams call their teammates and loved ones
-
Fortumo helps our startups with assistance in setting up in-game payments
-
PlayerDuel provides GameFounders teams the possibility to make their games playable with friends
-
Transfluent provides fast translation into 60 languages!
Meet our team
These are the people helping our startups every day.
-
Kadri Ugand
skype: kadrix
tel: +3725255504
kadri@gamefounders.com
Co-founder. Kadri manages the everyday life of the game accelerator, expands the mentor network, partnership deals and connects the startups to suitable mentors.
-
Lauri Antalainen
skype: antalainen
tel: +3725026333
lauri@gamefounders.com
Co- founder. Lauri supports the business development of the startups, advises on strategic as well as operational issues.
-
Paul Bragiel
paul@gamefounders.com
Co- founder. Paul is our team member in the US connecting GameFounders to the key players. -
Kati Vuks
skype: kati.vuks
tel: +37253405338
kati@gamefounders.com
Co-ordinator. Kati takes care of everything.
-
Sven Illing
skype: contactsven
tel: +3725251686
sven@gamefounders.com
Co-founder. Sven is expanding the gaming and investor network around GameFounders.
-
Antti Ylimutka
antti@gamefounders.com
Antti from the Finnish accelerator Startup Sauna is the guy connecting GameFounders to the Nordic gaming hub in Finland. -
Andrei Korobeinik
andrei@gamefounders.com
Lead Angel. Andrei is leading the angel investor group behind GameFounders.
Answers to faq:
-
I have an idea for a game and an awesome powerpoint. Can I get in?
No. We are looking for teams who have already launched, i.e have a beta or first release. But hey, you still have a little time to make it before the applications deadline. And besides, we prefer Keynote.
-
We have launched a game and it has thousands of downloads per day but we have not earned a dime yet. Can we apply?
YES. You are exactly the kind of team we are looking for and can help to monetize your game.
-
Do you prefer some kind of games, like mobile, social, web, tv, etc.?
We consider all games and game-related services. This being said, it is more likely at the moment for mobile games to get investments.
-
We are a bunch of friends building a game. Do we have to have a company when we apply?
No, but you must be willing to create a company and make it a business, not a hobby. We will assist you in setting up a company.
We write the blog
November 02. 2012
GameFounders opens applications for batch 2
Latest posts
- GameFounders Spring 2013 batch in London
- GameFounders batch 2 videos
- X3M Games - Macedonian guys with many awesome games
- 3 cheerful Italians in Tallinn: SportSquare Games
- Talented fellows from Lithuania - Tiny Lab Productions
- Pfeffermind Games - who are these guys?
- Yellow Monkey Studios presents: life in Estonia
- Meet the guys from Dev9K Games!
- Study Trip flashbacks
- GameFounders Batch 2 study trip to Finland!
- Teams spring 2013 revealed
- Meet the rising stars of spring 2013
- Visiting Creative Mobile
- Rules of the Jungle
- Advice from the most spectacular failure
- Life is a Game with Ian Livingstone
- The teams
- GameFounders round 1 is open!
- Teams for the first round selected
- GameFounders extends deadline by 3 days
Sulge
