Grants and Funds for Gamedevs

An attempt at navigating finding funds for your gamedev journey

This post is an attempt at mapping the landscape of grants and funds that can be used towards making games or interactive projects in the arts and media landscape, mostly for creators from India. While many of them are fairly straightforward and comes ‘no strings attached’, some may come with conditions; so please do your own research and apply to those that work for you. Since our core focus was on trying to find funding oppurtunities that were fairly no strings attached, we have omitted many others. We have also tried to add keywords and highlight them so that it is easier for you to navigate this list. If we missed something and want us to add it to the list, please reach out to us on our discord.

As is the usual case with out lists, it is always in early access and will change as the world changes. So please bookmark the post and come back for updates!

Last Updated : 2330Hrs IST, June 11, 2023

Astra Fellowship

Each year we provide a cohort of promising thinky game developers one year patron grants to support their work. These ambitious creators are the future of thinking games.

More - https://www.astragames.org/fellowship

Keywords - global, fellowship, thinking games, puzzle

Bright Gambit

We’re a small private video game funding initiative. Behind this corporate looking text, we’re just a group of people working within the video games industry. Between us, we have diverse and complementary experience in many aspects of the industry.

More - https://brightgambit.com

Keywords - global, investment, indie friendly

Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant

The Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant is a grant opportunity for game developers from traditionally under-represented groups and backgrounds who are interested in designing and developing puzzle games.

More - https://grants.draknek.org/

Keywords - global, thinking games, puzzle, grant

DANGEN Indie Developer Grant

In celebration of our 5th Year Anniversary, DANGEN Entertainment is hosting a development grant program aimed at helping indie developers that are working on their dream projects. It’s been an exciting five years for us and we want to pay our success forward with a grand total of 50,000 USD on offer to some of the most interesting games the indie scene has to offer.

More - https://grant.dangenentertainment.com

Keywords - global, grant

Epic Mega Grants

Epic Games has committed to providing financial grants to creative, noteworthy, and innovative projects built in and around Unreal Engine or projects that enhance the open source 3D graphics ecosystem.

Our average grants range from $5,000 to $250,000, with some extraordinary projects receiving up to $500,000! Projects selected cover a variety of endeavors from game development, architecture projects, and film production, to educational uses and software tool development. No matter what size grant you receive, you will continue to own your IP and will be free to publish it however you wish. 

More - https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/megagrants

Keywords - global, grant, games, film, tv, live events, non-game, tools, foss, education

Galaxy Fund

A prototype grant focused on the earliest stages of game development

From nothing to something, the Galaxy Fund is a prototype grant backing early stage experiments and bold new ideas from BIPOC and queer creators.

More - https://supportgalaxy.fund/

Keywords - global, BIPOC, prototype grant, grant

IMAGE - STPI

IMAGE, a Centre of Excellence for Gaming, Animation, VFX, Computer Vision, and AI Start-Ups, is a flagship initiative by STPI – Hyderabad, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India and Government of Telangana, in Collaboration with TVAGA (Telangana VFX, Animation and Gaming Association), HYSEA, IIIT Hyderabad, TIE Hyderabad, Hyderabad Angels, and SucSEEDInnovationn Fund.

IMAGE CoE runs a six-month accelerator program for Gaming, Animation, VFX, and Computer Vision&AI Start-Ups and provides mentor support, seed funding, product growth exercises, the opportunity to raise their subsequent round of funding through our investment partners, and other valuable resources/support.

More - https://innovate.stpinext.in/about-us/image_3rd_cohort

Keywords - India, dpiit, seed, investment

India Foundation for the Arts

India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) is an independent, nationwide, not-for-profit organisation that makes grants and implements projects across research, practice and education in the arts and culture across India, since 1995. We have supported over 750 projects disbursing over Rs 26.65 crore (USD 3.54 million) across the country. The outcomes of these projects—as books, films, performances, exhibitions, games, websites, and archival materials—have been circulating in the public domain through showcases, presentations, seminars, screenings, lecture demonstrations, and festivals, helping widen access and encouraging broader participation in the arts.

More - https://indiaifa.org/programmes/programmes.html

Keywords - India, art, research, grant

IndieFund

Indie Fund is a funding source for independent developers, created by a group of successful indies looking to encourage the next wave of game developers. It was established as a serious alternative to the traditional publisher funding model. Our aim is to support the growth of games as a medium by helping indie developers get (and stay) financially independent.

Indie Fund is structured like an investment syndicate. That means, for each project we invest in, each investor chooses for themselves if they'd like to participate or not, and if they want to participate then how much money they want to invest.

More - https://indie-fund.com/about/

Keywords - global, investment syndicate, indie friendly

Kerala StartUp Mission Innovation Grant

The Govt. of Kerala has introduced the Innovation Grant scheme to provide financial assistance to startups and entrepreneurs to help them convert their innovative ideas into full-fledged ventures. This scheme is implemented through Kerala Startup Mission, which is the nodal agency of Govt. of Kerala for startup-related activities and schemes.

Innovation grants are not prize money for having an idea. The purpose of the grant is to help innovators develop the prototype or product and set up startups.

More - https://startupmission.kerala.gov.in/schemes/innovation-grant

Keywords - start up, grant, Kerala

Kowloon Nights

Kowloon Nights is a global fund dedicated to independent video game developers globally. We are a group driven by passion and our years of experience working closely with game developers. We provide project-based funding to talented teams for PC/console premium games, whether they are working on their first game or well established.

More - https://www.kowloonnights.com

Keywords - global, investment, indie friendly

SERB – INAE Online and Digital Gaming Research Initiative

In the emerging field of gaming, in association with the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) as a knowledge partner, SERB announces “SERB-INAE Online and Digital Gaming Research Initiative”. Under this initiative, well-defined proposals on the following thematic areas concerning online and digital games are being invited

More - https://www.inae.in/serb-inae-online-and-digital-gaming-research-initiative/

Keywords - India, grant

Wings

WINGS invests in indie games by teams in which women and marginalized gender developers hold key positions.

Our mission is simple: find talented, diverse teams and fund their high potential games. The success of diverse teams will lead to more unique ideas coming to life, new voices being heard, and new games that cater to a wider variety of players.

ELEVATE is a 4-month global online accelerator created by WINGS to support marginalised gender developers with an opportunity to progress their game prototype to a pitch-ready state.

More - https://wingsfund.me/ | https://wingsfund.me/elevate/

Keywords - global, marginalized gender developers, seed, grant

Venture Capital Funds

We have a smaller list of VC funds as well listed below which seems to have invested in Indian founders working in games and game adjacent fields. If a straightforward approach at fund raising is what you have in mind, then the below list may be of use for you. Please keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list and also an evolving one; and we will try to keep it up to date as and when we find more funding oppurtunities. If you know of, or have worked with folks who you think we should add, please drop by our discord and let us know.

The ones marked with (g) usually has game/related studios in their portfolio

• 8VC - https://8vc.com (g)

• 9Unicorns - https://www.9unicorns.in

• Accel - https://www.accel.com/india-home (g)

• Anicut Capital - https://www.anicutcapital.com (g)

• Base Partners - https://basepar.com (g)

• Bay Capital Partners - https://bay-cap.com (g)

• BITS Spark Angels Network - https://www.bitsaa.org/page/bits-spark

• Centre Court Capital - https://centrecourtcapital.com (g)

• Chiratae Ventures - https://www.chiratae.com (g)

• CIIE.CO - https://ciie.co/index.html

• Dell Technologies Capital - https://www.delltechnologiescapital.com (g)

• Elevaition Capital - https://elevationcapital.com (g)

• Entrepreneur First - https://www.joinef.com

• Eximius Ventures - https://eximiusvc.com (g)

• First Cheque - https://firstcheque.vc (g)

• Founders Circle Capital - https://www.founderscircle.com

• GO VC - https://govc.com

• Home - https://www.iseed.vc/home (g)

• Hyderabad Angels - https://hyderabadangels.in (g)

• IvyCap - http://www.ivycapventures.com

• Java Capital - https://www.javacapital.co (g)

• JIIF – JITO Incubation and Innovation Foundation - https://www.jitojiif.com

• Kalaari Capital – https://www.kalaari.com (g)

• Lightspeed Venture Partners - https://lsvp.com (g)

• Ludus – Venture Studio - https://www.ludus.vc (g)

• Lumikai - https://www.lumikai.com (g)

• Matrix Partners - https://www.matrixpartners.in (g)

• Play Ventures - https://www.playventures.vc (g)

• PointOne - https://pointone.capital (g)

• RTP Global - https://rtp-global.com (g)

• Sequoia - https://www.sequoiacap.com/india (g)

• Stellaris Venture Partners - https://www.stellarisvp.com

• Stride Ventures – https://strideventures.in

• Telstra Ventures - https://telstraventures.com

• Titan Capital - https://titancapital.vc

• Ventana Ventures - https://ventanaventures.in/team.html

• Venture Catalyst - https://venturecatalysts.in/index.php (g)

• WaterBridge - https://www.waterbridge.vc (g)

• Westbridge Capital - https://westbridgecap.com (g)

• Wipro Ventures - https://www.wipro.com/innovation/ventures (g)

• Y Combinator - https://www.ycombinator.com (g)

More?

If none of these work for you and you want to approach a publisher, why not have a look at our earlier post - Looking for a publisher to publish your next indie game? for more connections, insights and funding oppurtunities for your game. If you liked this post please share it with your friends and do ask them to have a look at all the things that we do over on gamedev.in 💖