Science Park Skövde highlights the need for risk capital in the games industry
Science Park Skövde’s Business Developers, Per Holmén and Anna Emanuelsson, participated in Gothenburg Tech Week to emphasize the need for increased access to capital in the games industry.
The games industry is growing, but access to capital remains a challenge. During Gothenburg Tech Week, Science Park Skövde joined forces with Brewhouse Incubator and Connect Väst to highlight opportunities in Swedish game development – and how more investors can discover the potential of the sector.
Gothenburg Tech Week brought together entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators from across West Sweden. Among the participants were Science Park Skövde’s Business Developers Per Holmén and Anna Emanuelsson, who met with both business angels and venture capital firms to share insights about the park’s work supporting game startups – a sector in which Skövde has earned a unique position.
“Interest in investing in games has grown tremendously over the past decade, but recent downsizing in the industry has created some uncertainty. That’s why it’s more important than ever to show that games remain a strong and forward-looking industry,” says Per Holmén, Business Developer at Science Park Skövde.
Showcasing Skövde as the “Silicon Valley of games”
Throughout the day, the team met several entrepreneurs curious about how Science Park Skövde can support their ideas, as well as investors interested in the thriving ecosystem that has emerged in Skövde.
“It’s important for us to be here and demonstrate that Skövde really is something of a Silicon Valley for game development. We’ve built a strong community of companies, talents, and partners who together drive innovation forward,” continues Per Holmén.
Among the participants was Splendid Failures, a game studio that Science Park Skövde has been working with since the summer. The studio, founded by former developers from Thunderful, pitched their idea to an audience of over a hundred people during the event.
AI in focus for investors
“Our goal was to broaden the perception of what ‘tech’ really is, and to show that games and the creative industries play a crucial role in the innovation landscape of the future. At Gothenburg Tech Week, we wanted to highlight how creativity and technology go hand in hand,” says Anna Emanuelsson, Business Developer at Science Park Skövde.
A clear trend during the event was that many investors are now looking for startups with an AI connection.
“You simply can’t talk about developing software today without some form of AI integration or utilization of the technology. Without that, you’re cold as a startup,” one investor remarked on stage.