The second season of Game Drive is offering an investment pot of $30 million.
If you’ve got a great idea for a mobile game, two major players want to hear it–and they might even help fund and develop it. Today, MY.GAMES Venture Capital (MGVC) and Google have launched the second season of Game Drive, their business acceleration program for mobile game developers.
Following a successful first season of funding that was launched in November 2020, this season is offering a $30 million pool for potential investment in studios and projects that are accepted to the scheme, which is available to developers from across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
As a more benevolent and amiable take on Shark Tank or Dragons’ Den, MGVC and Google are encouraging mobile gaming studios to present their ideas to a group of experts to seek advice and feedback on their business, with a view to helping them grow further and faster. In exchange, Game Drive helps MGVC and Google identify “untapped talent.”
Alongside wider business advice, the industry giants will also offer applicants mentorship, project feedback, and improvement analysis, consulting, networking opportunities, plus access to the MY.GAMES ecosystem, which also offers a suite of the company’s training assets.
During season one, more than 40 applications were submitted from developers in countries including the U.K., Italy, France, Germany, Kuwait, Spain, and Russia; the shortlist of finalists included games like Warfronts: Battle for Toria (Sand Forge Games), Big 6 Hockey Manager (Big 6), Wasteland Punk (Try Hard Games), and Global City (Red Brix Wall).
To sign up, mobile devs from the EMEA regions need to have games in early access, or a minimal viable product, on Google Play; up to ten successful applicants will be granted a place on the 2021 Game Drive program.
Those successful candidates will receive a tailored partnership, culminating in a Game Drive Demo Day in November, behind closed doors. From here, developers could be in for a share of the $30 million financial investment put forward by MGVC.
Elena Grigoryan, chief marketing officer at MGVC, said: “MGVC and Google recognize that to succeed in mobile development, teams need support in other areas like expertise, infrastructure, scaling, data, analytics, and how to work with across the different platforms. Game Drive [has] the core objective of developing the mobile gaming ecosystem and providing game developers with [this].”
If you’re a developer that wants to see if you match the criteria for 2021’s Game Drive program, you can learn more at the MGVC website.
