Dare Academy 2019 sponsors announced

Dundee videogames start-ups should be planning for their financial and legal futures as early in their business journey as possible, a trio of industry experts have advised.

MHA Henderson Loggie, RSB Lindsays and Sonas Wealth Management are today confirmed as sponsors of Abertay University’s 2019 Dare Academy – a videogames development competition which has helped spark a series of local start-up companies, while acting as a talent pipeline for more established studios.

All three sponsors have signed up on the basis of helping the next generation of city games designers maximise their potential and will add value to the competition through workshops and seminars.

The competition is this year part of a Dundee-wide Summer of Games, which includes the UK Games Fund Awards and an industry taster event to be hosted by the Innovation for Games and Media Enterprise (InGAME) project at the Vision Building.

Managing Director of Sonas Wealth, Chris Forde – an Abertay University business graduate - said young start-ups could hold the key to further growth in Dundee’s videogames cluster, which currently boasts 32 companies.

He said: “Sonas Wealth offers tailored advice and consultancy to games studios, no matter what stage of their business journey they are at.

“Part of our job as financial planners is helping individuals and business owners plan for their future, but also to help protect them against any future financial pitfalls.

“As a young team of advisors we can easily relate to the students involved in Dare Academy as they prepare to enter the world of work, joining local established businesses or setting up their own.”

Previous Dare Academy teams have gone on to major critical and commercial success, with 2017 winner Bit Loom releasing their title PHOGS! through major publisher Coatsink.

RSB Lindsays Dundee-based Employment Law Partner, Kate Wyatt, said young games designers must have a sound legal knowledge to maintain and grow their business.

She added: “Lindsays is delighted to support Abertay University’s DARE Academy for the third consecutive year.

“The gaming and creative industries are a vital part of the Dundee economy and connect with many evolving aspects of the law that surround continued advancement in technology and the online space.

“DARE Academy is producing the entrepreneurs, inventors and innovators of the future, and it’s important they are equipped with the legal knowledge they’ll need to succeed - we’re delighted to be able to help them at the start of this journey.”

Alisdair McNaughton of MHA Henderson Loggie said: “The computer games industry is huge in Dundee, and much of it originates in Abertay. Dare is the pinnacle of that. In supporting that we’re supporting the industry in the city and from there, the industry in Scotland.”

Further support for fledgling Dundee games studios is available through the InGAME project, which is led by Abertay University in partnership with the universities of Dundee and St Andrews, as well as a host of industry companies including Sony, Microsoft and Outplay.

For more information on Dare Academy visit https://www.abertay.ac.uk/schools/school-of-design-and-informatics/dare-academy