Finnish Game Incubator 2023 - Tampere Game Hub

Finnish Game Incubator returns for the sixth batch – learn the best practices for game business from the best mentors and coaches! Free for all who get picked.

Do you have a game studio or just a team with the desire to find the right market or to attract publishers and investors?

Are you a part of a Finland-based game team or company looking for mentoring from the best of Finland’s game development industry? Finnish Game Incubator returns again in November 2023 to provide mentoring to game teams looking for direction in the game industry. We help with everything from the game production pipeline to fundraising.

Together with the city of Tampere, Business Tampere and AhlmanEdu, Joanna Ronkanen (Tampere Game Hub) and Joni Lappalainen (Dreamloop Games) have made a business coaching plan that will feature all the knowhow you need to grow your budding game studio into a business. Our visiting mentors are CEOs, marketing professionals and other game industry veterans; picked to suit your needs. This coaching is completely free for everyone who gets picked. Spaces are limited, so act fast!

Fully remote on Discord, the 10-week coaching features best-in-business game developer mentors to hone your pitching skills, learn game business and get help from top gaming industry influencers!

Get valuable advice in hands-on sessions with veteran games industry mentors
Weekly crash course in all topics of game development; from idea to release
Learn to pitch and sell your games on any platform
Critique and advice from senior people in the industry
Culminates in an online Demo Day event, where you get to pitch to both investors and mentors, as well as to the whole industry
Fully remote on Discord so you can participate remotely with your team
During the coaching, you will receive the needed knowledge to earn an Further vocational qualification for Entrepreneurs degree from AhlmanEdu
At the end of the coaching the game teams will show their knowledge with a skills demonstration, with the central document being the game studio’s business plan

During the coaching you will learn everything you need to run a game studio – all the coaches and mentors are there for your team for the duration of the course and beyond. The Entrepreneurship degree is provided to graduates of the program by AhlmanEdu.

The format is simple – the program is attended by mentors who have been in the game industry for a long time. Once a week in a shared keynote they share their knowledge with the picked teams. After the keynote, you will get tailored mentoring for your specific business case in scheduled 1-on-1 mentoring sessions.

Finnish Game Incubator has already run for five batches and has been attended by over 30 game studios. 95% of previous teams recommend the course for other teams*. While we aim to pick the teams with the most potential to succeed in our application process already, both the topics and the mentor lineup are tailored to suit the needs of the accepted teams.

Finnish Game Incubator 2023 begins November 2023. Applications are accepted from 04.09.2023 to 06.10.2023. Sign up today – we can only select so many!

The Finnish Game Incubator Team

The team of Tampere Game Hub and Ahlman runs the coaching with weekly hands-on lessons and mentoring sessions.

Joanna Ronkanen

Director / Tampere Game Hub

Experienced Producer and QA Manager with a passion for helping new teams in the games industry reach their goals and succeed.

Joni Lappalainen

Vice Chairman of Tampere Game Hub

CEO of Dreamloop Games, networking and game production mastermind with experience across the entire game industry – from shipping games to doing B2B.

Mentors

The mentors and speakers are experts in game business, marketing and working with investors and publishers.

Mentors to be announced soon!

Finnish Game Incubator has had many mentors from all walks of the game industry – we pick mentors for the incubator batches by tailoring them to the picked game teams. Stay tuned for this year’s lineup reveal!

Apply now!

The coaching runs once a week from November 2023 to February 2024.

Further vocational qualification for Entrepreneurs degree period is 1.11.2023 – 31.05.2024.

Application period: 04.09.2023 – 06.10.2023.

Finnish Game Incubator 2023 begins in early November online on Discord. Please read the selection criteria below carefully.

Selection Criteria

– This coaching is intended for game teams or companies that are already working on a game project.

– You (the applicant) are in a decision-making, founding role in the team or company

– You are ready to attend the ten weeks curriculum (once a week) in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 online on Discord. You and your team members participate in the included Further vocational qualification for Entrepreneurs degree (“Yrittäjyyden ammattitutkinto”)

– Your team or company will submit a skills assessment – game business plan (“ammattitaidon näyttö – pelialan liiketoimintasuunnitelma”) at the end of the course. The skills assessment must be done in the Finnish language.

– At least one member of the team needs to be able to speak Finnish; all other content of the program is in English.

Application Process

We look through each submission and rank them on values like potential investor interest, business potential and how the game project looks and feels like. After processing the application, we will select the best teams and/or companies to attend the program. Once your application has been processed, we will let you know whether your application was successful.

APPLY NOW (FORM)

Curriculum

Note that dates and times are subject to change!

08.11.2023 12:00 – 14:00	Starting info / degree information
During wk 45 or 46	HOKS & Team mentoring
15.11.2023 12:00 – 17:00	Business Opportunities in the Game Industry
22.11.2023 12:00 – 16:00	Company Strategy/Communications
29.11.2023 12:00 – 16:00	Pitching (Pitch Deck)
13.12.2023 12:00 – 16:00	Company Culture
10.01.2024 12:00 – 16:00	Marketing, PR & Press Releases
17.01.2024 12:00 – 16:00	Legal
24.01.2024 12:00 – 17:00	Service sales and pricing
31.01.2024 12:00 – 17:00	Public funding
07.02.2024 12:00 – 17:00	Pitch training & feedback
21.02.2024 18:00 – 19:00	Demo Day 2024

From March to April, we will organize team-based mentoring for the Further vocational qualification for Entrepreneurs degree from AhlmanEdu and spar teams on submitting their game studio business plan. In May 2024, based on the team’s schedule, we will grade the submissions.

Upon successful graduation of the degree programme, you’re eligible to apply for a stipend benefit.

See more info: https://www.tyollisyysrahasto.fi/en/benefits-for-adult-students/scholarships-for-qualified-employees/

Every applicant that participates in the coaching also gets an Further vocational qualification for Entrepreneurs degree from AhlmanEdu! During the course you will gain the knowledge required to get the degree.

You’ll learn everything you need during the ten week course – and the coaches and mentors will help you all the way through. The person in charge of business coaching and thesis affairs is AhlmanEdu business coach Jari Yltävä.

NOTE: Secondary-level (high school or vocational school) students cannot be accepted into the degree program due to funding technicalities. Student teams from universities and other higher education institutions (AMKs) are welcome!

Open to all teams in Finland

We have graduated over 30 teams from the course already! All game studios and teams based in Finland are eligible to apply.

95% of participating game studios recommend the incubator

In 2021 – 2022, when the game incubator was in full swing, 95% of the teams recommended the course for other teams!

* Based on exit survey conducted May 2022.

Fully remote course

The ten week coaching is completely online this year on Discord, the VOIP and messaging service already in use by most game companies and gamers.

All coursework and communications will be online to maintain social distancing and enable remote workflows. Participate from anywhere!