British Esports, in partnership with Sunderland Software City (SSC), has announced that 14 startups have been accepted onto a new esports accelerator programme, designed to drive the growth of the gaming sector and create jobs in Sunderland.
Supported by Sunderland City Council, British Esports and leading tech sector support organisation SSC have designed the programme to present a unique opportunity for budding companies in the field of esports to benefit from leading industry experts.
Spanning eight weeks, the programme covers a range of topics designed to accelerate the growth of businesses in the esports sector. Participants will not only benefit from the expertise of Sunderland’s world-leading tech partners but will also gain invaluable knowledge in financial management, international expansion in esports, digital marketing, protecting intellectual property and investment readiness.
The programme will take place at the National Esports Performance Campus in Sunderland and blends in-person and online sessions. The accelerator will conclude on November 1 st where founders can pitch to potential investors for funding.
The chosen 14 faced tough competition for places, with over 100 applications submitted. The companies were chosen by a panel of leading tech experts including David Dunn and Hekla Goodman-Parker both of SSC and Dave Martin of British Esports. Collectively they assessed the viability of the idea, size of market opportunity, team expertise and product market fit.
Hekla Goodman Parker, head of tech startups at Sunderland Software City, said: “We’re excited about the esports accelerator’s first cohort of tech startups creating groundbreaking technology for the industry.
“This is an ambitious group of founders and we have the fantastic opportunity to help them scale by connecting the businesses straight into industry players, thanks to our partnership with British Esports and Sunderland City Council.
‘’This will be the first of many accelerators we’ll offer over the coming year as we focus primarily on growing the North East tech sector and bringing investment into the region.”
Dave Martin, senior vice president at esports, added: “We’re building a partnership with Sunderland Software City and Sunderland City Council to help us achieve our mission of helping to grow a thriving UK’s esports ecosystem. We aim to bring together talent, investment and innovation and set them on a path to success creating more jobs and innovations that are world-leading.”
The first cohort consists of:
- Beam XR
- BSL AR Teacher
- DS Performance Sport
- ESG Gaming
- Convergent Live Ltd
- Good Game Truro
- Gamlytics
- Versus
- HD Games
- Immerzion Development Ltd
- Nexus Interactive Ltd
- Racing Sims North East
- Smash Mountain Studio
- Reset Reload
The project is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
