GameOn Fund for games sector in the Netherlands launched

GameOn, a newly formed games investment fund was launched yesterday at Casual Connect, a European event for the casual games. The fund’s mission is to fuel the rapidly growing games sector in the Netherlands by investing in gaming start-ups with differentiated IP and business models. GameOn will target early-stage companies in the games ecosystem from The Netherlands and also from across the globe who are interested in establishing a presence in The Netherlands. 

The initiative is being supported by the Dutch government, as gaming is an important part of one of its identified Top Sectors, the creative industry. In addition, the fund will receive direct assistance from the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA), an operational unit of the Dutch ministry of Economic Affairs. GameOn and the NFIA will work together in attracting foreign gaming entertainment companies to set up business in the Netherlands. This approach fits in perfectly with NFIA’s Digital Gateway to Europe Project, which is aiming to bring foreign ICT companies to the Netherlands. 

In addition to the government, GameOn is working with partners in the areas of accountancy, legal, education, IT, PR, distribution, facilities, housing, analytics and business strategy. GameOn is launching Dutch Game Fund I this quarter, with an initial total commitment of € 10 million in risk capital. GameOn is aiming to collect approximately 50% through Dutch public entities. The balance will be from private investors. Subsequent funding rounds are planned for the following year.

GameOn is an early-stage investment programme whose goal is to accelerate growth of the online and mobile games industry in the Netherlands.