Board game and puzzle publisher Ravensburger is investing Euro 4 million ($4.5 million) in the Polish start-up Gamefound. The international board game crowdfunding start-up is the first to receive funding from Ravensburger’s investment programme Next Ventures.
“With Gamefound, we are investing in a strong team of founders with industry expertise; a start-up with extremely high potential in our core segment of board games,†said Thomas Bleyer, group director corporate development & new business at Ravensburger AG, who is responsible for the Next Ventures programme.
Gamefound ( www.gamefound.com) was founded in 2019 as a spin-off of the successful board game publisher and crowdfunding expert Awaken Realms. Gamefound’s specialised services help board game developers interact with their community and transform ideas into games. Gamefound was soft-launched in 2021 and has already hosted more than 30 campaigns, which raised over $22 million in total funding. Ravensburger’s investment will enable the roll-out of the platform to all interested creators worldwide.
Ravensburger will work with Gamefound strategically and operationally to support the platform’s successful positioning in the market. “As a leading international game publisher, we can support Gamefound with more than just financial investment – and that is exactly the aim of our Next Ventures programme,†said Thomas.
Ravensburger recently launched the corporate programme to fund innovation projects and start-up investments. It funds up to four projects per year with a total amount in the double-digit millions. The goal is to expand internal innovation management and provide support and funding to enable start-up teams to successfully launch new product ideas and services that fit thematically to Ravensburger business sectors.
Interested start-ups and founding teams can get in touch via nextventures@ravensburger.com. To learn more, visit www.ravensburger-group.com/nextventures.
Photo: Ravensburger AG
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