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Ugand … “There are a lot of
niche accelerators popping up
all over the world.”
gramme is carried out by a pool of 120
experts drawn from the games industry
and covers all aspects of games develop-
ment. She said: “To be eligible for this
three months programme, we look for
teams that are capable of producing a
technically sound product – but do not
necessarily get the business side right.
Our programme is mainly focused on the
monetisation, launch, business models
and other aspects that one can best learn
from our experts who have been doing it
for a long time.”
What are the games that satisfy the
requirement of GameFounders Asia?
Ugand said: “Honestly, we look at all
games – from mobile to PC to console
and across all business models – from
free to play to premium ones. We cover
all target groups, from educational games
to entertainment.”
However, she was quick to point out
that the criteria of the selection is not
so much the game alone. “What’s more
important is the team and the potential
we see in them. In the games industry you
have to be able to walk away from a game
that is not performing and develop a new
one – it is not wise to bet everything on
one game. This is what we tell our teams
and this is what we live by.”
GameFounders Asia’s
Kadri Ugand
shares with
K. Alex Raj
her opinions on the games
industry ecosystem inMalaysia and the region.
Stepping Up To The Game
T
he
SouthEast Asia region,
which has consumer
onl ine connec t i v i ty
rising at least 13% per
annum, has been the
fastest growing market
for games for the past one
year now. Almost 70%of consumers play
games and more than half of them are
willing to pay for games with pay-to-play
or micro-transactions.
On the Malaysian front, the gamers’
annual spend is US$32.6 million, which
is the second highest in the region and
boasts a market of 14 million gamers
ready to dig into new games. This sce-
nario means many people are not only
discovering games as a hobby, but also
games development as a career.
GameFounders recently partnered
withMalaysia’s Multimedia Development
Corporation (MDeC), the custodian of
the MSC Malaysia initiative, to launch
GameFounders Asia in Kuala Lumpur.
According to Kadri Ugand, one of the
founders, the aim with the Asian hub is
to continue investing in promising game
startups from all over the world.
An Asian base established inMalaysia
indeed speaks volumes on the vibrant
ecosystem prevalent in the country. The
launch of GameFounders Asia in Kuala
Lumpur will surely also further enhance
the local games ecosystem and position
Malaysia as a premier Asian location in
this growing space.
Niche Acceleration
Unl ike Seedcamp and TechStars,
GameFounders is a vertical (niche)
accelerator, focusing on startups building
games, related tools and platforms,
or applications that rely heavily on
gamification. Ugand said: “There are a
lot of niche accelerators
popping up al l over
the world, for example
health technology, fintech
(financial technology),
hardware and so on. It is
very much a trend and we
see no reason why Asia
should be an exception. If
a vertical is clearly carved
out, the accelerator can give
considerably more value to
all parties involved.”
Gamefounders Asia
GameFounders Asia’s mentoring pro-
Bringing startups to the
next level … Mentors
fromGameFounders Asia
testing a game developed
by IMGNATION Studios.
To k n ow m o r e a b o u t G a m e F o u n d e r s A s i a , p l e a s e v i s i t
www . g a m e f o u n d e r s . c o m