Comment & Opinion

Tips on securing funding for your gaming start up

Gamee CEO Bozena Rezab offers advice based on her own experiences pitching for investment

Tips on securing funding for your gaming start up

There may come a time when developing your own games that you need to consider obtaining funding to either grow your studio or finish your game - or both.

Pitching your game to an investor and asking them to part with their cash can be a difficult proposition for many, particularly those unfamiliar with the process.

To help you understand the pitching process and what to look for when choosing an investor, Gamee CEO
Bozena Rezab offers some tips based on her own experiences.

When pitching..

Do not oversell

Investors will have been pitched to thousands of times and have seen many companies both fail and succeed, so they can tell when you’re overselling or winging it.

They won’t expect you to have everything figured out so instead of lying, be honest. I believe in being honest. I think it is better to say “I do not know this yet, we will need to figure that out", rather than come up with something random that you don't even believe yourself.

Being honest here will give you credit in your other moments, where you are sure and strong - even bold - about your statements and predictions.

Do not get discouraged

There are many times that VCs will have been wrong and refused deals that they later regretted. Actually, this is one of my favourite questions to ask an investor and learn about them, if they're willing to share such information.

Don't get discouraged, you will get many knock-backs before you hear a yes.

So don't get discouraged, you will get many knock-backs before you hear a yes. We all do.

Be careful about categories

In my experience, investors tend to have a list of categories or even hot trends they focus on and invest in. If your company does not seem to fit the list, you will have a harder time getting their attention.

The challenge comes when you push innovation and your company doesn't exactly fit into known categories; when you are pushing a change in a market, which people use to define your company with.

If possible, when pitching, stick to your value proposition: what does your company do and how does it express that value to the end user?

This is exactly what we had to solve with Gamee. It’s not a game, not only a bots platform, not a social gaming studio. Instead: Gamee is a social gaming experience that connects friends in gaming battles across platforms.

When choosing your investor..

Look beyond the money

After you close a funding round, your investors become your partners and they will often ask: “How can I help?” You should have an answer to this question before you choose to work with them.

Always look at the portfolio of the investor you are interested in working with.

Money is the same, what comes after is what makes the difference. Some investors may provide access to networks, markets or partnerships. Some specialise and will be a partner for your product and business discussions

This is how we chose our investors at Gamee, those that have social gaming experts to lead the round, accompanied by globally recognised venture funds and a list of angel investors that have network and expertise areas that can push us forward.

Do your homework

Always look at the portfolio of the investor you are interested in working with. Talking to the founders from other companies in their portfolio is the best way to get on the investor’s radar - if the founders like what you do, they are likely to mention and recommend you to the investor, and their recommendations are always given attention.

Moreover, you will learn about how these companies cooperate with the investor, how active they are, how they can help and how the cooperation works in practice. This will certainly give you the best picture of how your investment deal might pan out.


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