DGA Talks – How to grow & professionalize your game studio with external funding

How to grow & professionalize your game studio with external funding

Let's face it, the games industry is going through some pretty rough times. Studio closings and rounds of lay-offs are now a common practice globally. And unfortunately, the Netherlands is no exception to this trend.

But it's not all doom and gloom. Many game companies are actually thriving and wondering on how to best grow and seize all the opportunities. New studios are still being founded all the time. And although being more critical, investors are still funding studios to help grow their game project or whole company. The industry always went through waves, the next (investment) boom might be just around the corner, so better be ready for it...!

Upon frequent request from our members, the Dutch Games Association is therefore organizing a DGA Talks about growing and professionalising your game studio.

DGA Talks: How to grow & professionalize your game studio with external funding

When: Thursday April 4 2024, from 15.30 to 17.30 hrs, followed by drinks

Where: at CoolGames, Herengracht 433 in Amsterdam

We are proud to present you a fantastic line-up of experienced speakers who will all share practical advice on how to grow and further professionalize your studio:

• Laurens Rutten, CEO of CoolGames, will share hands-on experience of his 10+ years journey: founding a game studio from scratch, expanding it internationally, funded with venture capital, and selling it to a strategic buyer in the summer of 2023. With insides into the bumps in the road along the way and the pros and cons of external funding.
• René Otto, Lawyer and long-time legal veteran in the Dutch games industry, will give you tips about everything you need to think about on how to organize your company from legal perspective: commercial contracting, dealing with IP and employment arrangements to how to prepare yourself for Due Diligence. René will launch his new 100% games focussed law firm Deviant Legal in April of this year.
• Teun Hulshof and Jeroen Holtkamp, senior consultants at BDO, will go into many financial and fiscal aspects that you need to take into account when growing your company (with or without external capital). A solid financial and fiscal set-up is more often than not a first requirement by any external investor or buyer.
• Annet Kloprogge, Business Developer at ROM Utrecht, will explain how ROM helps to (co-)invest in game projects and studios.
• Eric Diepeveen, seasoned games professional and currently investor at ForsVC, will provide the view of an investor in a fireside chat with Laurens: what are investors looking for in game studios, how to prepare your pitch, do's and don'ts of a business plan and other useful tips to best prepare yourself for the guys with capital.

Martine Spaans, General Manager of the DGA, will be your host of the day. After the presentations, there will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and mingle with your fellow game entrepreneurs and speakers. But be quick with reserving your ticket, as we only have limited space available, first come is first served.

Register your ticket here