Creative UK has announced the first equity investment from the North of Tyne Culture and Creative Investment Programme – a £100,000 investment in Grid Finder, an early-stage, high-potential, esports start-up based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
The investment is part of a wider equity funding round and has already catalysed additional private match investment of £325,000 for the company plus another £200k-£300k in soft commits towards their £1M+ Seed investment round.
Grid Finder was originally a passion project, designed to help gamers find gaming communities to race with during Covid. It very quickly became the “Google” of online racing and has expanded its services to assisting online racing communities in recruiting new drivers, managing their races and tournament series and offering the gaming world a platform to sell car liveries, engineering setups, broadcast services, commentary services and coaching.
Tom Bunten, founder of Grid Finder, said: “We are thrilled to have received this investment from The North of Tyne Culture & Creative Investment Programme. The award will enable us to employ two more incredibly talented developers, Chris Honniball (CIO & co-founder) and Kamil Zurek as well as giving us the funds to bolster our marketing team and strategy.”
“This is our second investment round but significantly larger than the first, with more complex mechanisms involved. Creative UK were patient, transparent and incredibly helpful throughout the whole process and it’s a huge boost to know that they have our best interests at heart and are just as motivated to see the business succeed as we are.”
Rahul Misra, investment manager, North of Tyne, Creative UK, said: “We have been very impressed by the Grid Finder team’s passion for online racing and for creating solutions for online racing communities. They have seen significant early traction for their platform. Through equity investment and strategic support from the North of Tyne Culture and Creative Investment Programme, we look forward to supporting Grid Finder’s growth.”
The North of Tyne Culture and Creative Investment Programme has a further £1M to invest through loan and equity financing on behalf of the North of Tyne Combined Authority by June 2023, and creative businesses in the area are urged to get in touch.
