Where to find an investor for a good mobile game?

Question

Mobile development

An interesting situation arose:
We (a team of 7 people) developed a cool game. They wrote for almost a year, invested a total of about $ 30,000 in development. We conducted a successful closed test, made excellent versions for iOS and Android, and then ...
And then, as a result of market analysis, it came to the understanding that the game needs to be brought to the market and supported "in an adult way" so that it generates the appropriate income and can get millions of users. The competition is quite high in the whole market (our niche is better) and the cost of entering the market is quite high.
For VC we are still too small, for angels, probably already too big - we are looking for from $500k.
The question is - where can such projects look for investors?

Answer 1

How about crowdfunding platforms? Try if not all then at least part of the funds to raise there. Just be a little cunning and don’t say that the game is ready and you only need money for marketing, but describe it as if the part is developed and funds are needed to complete and launch, I think about $ 150k is quite a doable task if the game is good and make a beautiful packaging for the product, and if the game directly appeals to the audience, then you can collect more at all. Surely such funds should be enough to launch and demonstrate the performance of the model (the ability of your game to generate money), and as soon as you show that, for example, by investing $1 you can get $2 at the exit, then there will be no problems with investors . Investors need a working model that, with k costs, generates n rubles (where n > k), so that they provide funds to increase k which should lead to an increase in n, something like this, so to speak, to scale a project that has run into a budget. Everything else for investors is adventures and "wet dreams of woeful startups." Wish you luck)

Answer 2

Sorry for not replying sooner, I don't come here very often anymore. I hope the question is still relevant, after all, finding 35M is not an easy task. Now to the point. I will proceed solely from what you have said.
1. You have a finished product, which is very good, because some people are looking for a similar amount at the prototype design stage (almost at the idea level). Which is wrong.
2. Nevertheless, a product that could not bring cash flow (we are not talking about profit), at least the minimum, will not be of interest to the investor -> therefore, it needs to be created. And preferably with minimal cunning, which was advised above (albeit in a slightly different direction). I mean the first customers you have to deal with yourself to show that the product really has a market.
3. It is not entirely clear why you need such an amount. It is equivalent to an investment in full product development, by today's standards. Well, okay, it's not about that. I'm sure you have everything right.
1. If you are at a crossroads where the project is too small for some and too big for others, a possible solution would be to divide the amount of required investment into parts and attract investors for each stage. This is a common practice in venture capital: for 10 years, a company needs 500M, for example, but it “spreads” this money into 4 stages (rounds) and attracts investors for each of them.
2. Either increase the cost of the project to meet the VC requirements. And for this, the company must bring a stable income, the profit can be negative, but the revenue is stable.
3. I repeat. I hope you have a normal financial model that justifies such an amount of investment. Since it will help to understand the share / or % that the investor will require or that can be used in negotiations.
I am often asked the question of how much to give an investor: my answer is in proportion to his contribution to the future profitability of the company. Hence the return on interest. And here the ephemeral table "on the knee" is of little use and subsequently various kinds of conflicts and misunderstandings arise.
1. Recently, I was involved in a project to develop an application for car services. We conducted an in-depth market analysis and formed a detailed financial model that fully explained where the money comes from, how many customers we expect to attract and how much everything costs: from development to sale. They also needed a similar amount, which we divided into 3 parts according to the stages of the project, which turned out to be quite acceptable for the angel.
2. Another project, already from the construction sector, was looking for 15M for real assets. The house built in Yakutia and all the company's assets would go as a pledge of investment. There were many who wanted to invest, but they all demanded guarantees from various funds, the cost of which varied from 200 to 500 thousand rubles. The guys did not have such free money. In addition to guarantees, there were a number of requirements with the transfer of a number of functions to outsourcing to top companies, the cost of which was high. As a result, they abandoned the idea of ​​investing and decided to enter through state subsidies. The work is still going on.
The first case is an example of an approach to attracting investments. If interested, we can discuss other options, but for this I need more information about you. Accordingly, communication will no longer take place here. Contacts in profile.
The second case - attracting such an amount of money - is a real hemorrhoids. You need to be ready for this and preferably in all weapons.
There will be questions, write. Good luck!
UPD: And yes, you need to look for investors for your game in the same place as everyone else:
1. Various communities and aggregator sites - spark, business platform and others.
2. "Torturing" funds, but only those that work with the theme of the game.
3. Take part in some kind of exhibition of games, as far as I know, they take place every year in Moscow, or even several times. I'm sure those who invest in games go there.
4. And other places, information about which is in abundance on the Internet. Because the main thing is not the place where you are looking for, but the product that you offer. On the catcher, as they say, and the beast runs.
Do you have a website, have you declared yourself somewhere, that you are ready to talk about the game, have you already entered the marketplaces? If the game is on mobile, then the first check will be, just, the app store and google play. Is not it?

Answer 3

As an option, go to some large publishing house, or to some large game developer - to conclude a contract, as with a publisher.6

Answer 4

www.finatica.com/investors

Answer 5

Take a loan

Answer 6

[email protected]
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