The first phase of the £5m project involves the creation of a £2m fund to invest in new computer-games prototypes, creating new businesses and giving fledgling companies the chance to attract further investment by developing their intellectual property.
Grants of up to £25,000 will be available to support the development of fully working prototypes. Commercialisation and project-management support will be provided from Abertay’s business and computer-games experts, giving each successful applicant the best chance of establishing or developing a thriving business.
The project aims to create 30 companies, provide support to another 80 existing smaller businesses and create up to 400 jobs. An additional 300 students, graduates and professionals will have their skills developed through working on successfully funded projects.
Paul Durrant, director of business development at Abertay University, said: ’This multi-million pound investment project will allow talented games developers and digital artists the opportunity to turn their innovative ideas into complete, working prototypes that they can showcase to investors.’
This project brings the recent public investment in computer-games education and development at Abertay University to £8m, building on a £3m Scottish Government investment in Abertay University’s Centre for Excellence in Computer Games Education, which opened last year.
Financial support for the new project came from the UK government (£2.5m), the European Regional Development Fund (£1m) and the university (£1.5m).
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