What is a VC? What do they do? What do they look for? Get a crash course on VCs and learn how you can maximise your chances of getting funded, before you even have your first pitch meeting.

1. D E M Y S T I F I N G F U N D R A I S I N G :
5 S T E P S T O P I T C H I N G S U C C E S S

2. PHYLICIA KOH & PLAY VENTURES
‣ Over 8 years experience in growth, PR in startups and at the
Singapore Economic Development Board
‣ Play Ventures is an early stage gaming VC fund
‣ Based in Singapore and Helsinki, and invest globally
‣ Invest in pre-seed, seed stage F2P game studios and services

3. PLAY VENTURES FUND I PORTFOLIO
Play Ventures has invested in 23 companies to-date

4. #1 WHAT EVEN IS A VC
What do VCs do? What do they look for?

5. VC 101
‣ Could have
operational
experience
‣ Or come from an
investment
background
‣ Have bosses too
Your
startup
Invest capital
into startups
Because we told our
investors we’d get
them >3X returns
Get money
from investors
Investors VC
Own a % of your
startup, which they
hope generate
massive returns

6. VC FUNDS GET RETURNS FROM EXITS
A C Q U I S I T I O N S
I P O

7. BUT THERE’S THE POWER LAW
1 2 20 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NO. OF COMPANIES Credit: Jyri Engeström (@jyri)
RETURNS 150X
100X
50X
▸ 97% of profits come from < 10 companies
▸ So VCs need ”Fund Returners” that give them > 100X to
make up for poor performers

8. #2 IS VC FOR YOU?
What are alternative funding options?

9. EXTERNAL FUNDING
+ Large amounts of capital
+ Help with connections, growth
+ Helps you scale quickly
+ Help with future financing rounds
- Own a % of your company
- Managing investors and your board
takes energy and time
V C
+ Connections, could form a collective
+ Fewer due diligence hoops
- Own a % of your company
- Smaller cheques
- Follow-on financing less certain
- May or may not have relevant expertise
- If you raise from multiple angels, that
can take up more energy, time
A N G E L S

10. Pitch Checklist for Seed PitchRAISE VC FUNDING IF
YOU HAVE…
▸ Global Ambition to build a $100M+ company
▸ Drive, vision and execution to be the #1 company
and leader in your category
▸ Growth-first mindset
▸ The ability to hire the best people
▸ Tolerance for risk & uncertainty
▸ The will to change the world

11. Pitch Checklist for Seed PitchYOU SHOULD NOT RAISE
VC FUNDING TO…
▸Just because “everyone is doing it”
▸Bragging rights
▸To finance just a game, a project
▸“To complete a prototype”
▸If you can’t deal with selling control
of your company

12. PROJECT FINANCING
+ Individual game/project funding
+ Minimum guarantee provides
security for the team for a period
+ Expertise and muscle in user
acquisition, game development, etc.
- Not all deals are favourable for
developers w.r.t revenue share,
platform exclusivity
P U B L I S H E R O R
P L A T F O R M
+ Some don’t need to be repaid
+ More public funding available for
gaming now globally
- Need patience for paperwork (now
and in the future)
- Some might have strings attached
and restrictions
P U B L I C
+ Retain ownership
+ Help build your player base even
before development/launch
- Doing a good crowdfunding
campaign takes time and effort
- Public failure might make other
funding options more difficult
C R O W D F U N D I N G

13. #3 PREP YOUR PITCH
What do you need to have in place?

14. WHAT YOU NEED
▸ VCs look at THOUSANDS of funding
applications every year
▸ A poor cold email will put you at the
back of the queue
▸ Personalise, show why your
company hits their sweet spot
▸ Have a one-paragraph elevator
pitch others can use for warm intros
▸ Must-have for fundraising
▸ Not a game design document
▸ Have two versions – for pitch
presentations, for reading
▸ Check out our Pitch Perfect Guide
for more details
(playventures.vc/pitchperfect)
P I T C H E M A I L P I T C H D E C K P R A C T I C E
▸ Start by asking how they feel about
your company
▸ Hard to pitch without visual
feedback (facial expression, body
language)
▸ Arrange to have a co-founder share
screen so you see the VC
▸ Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!

15. #4 REMEMBER: NOT ALL
VCS ARE THE SAME
Tailor and prioritise

16. GAMING VC FUNDS
EARLY LATER
▸ How early?
▸ Pre-product?
▸ Pre-revenue?
▸ Pre-incorporation?
▸ Series A onwards
▸ Metrics
▸ What traction
must you show?

17. GAMING VC FUNDS
GLOBAL LOCAL

18. WHAT DOES PLAY VENTURES LOOK FOR?
Amazing
Team
Social
Product
Free 2 Play
Big
Ambitions

19. PLAY VENTURES FUND I PORTFOLIO

20. #5 FOUNDER-VC FIT
Ask questions!

21. Pitch Checklist for Seed Pitch
Founder-VC Fit
▸This relationship will last for years
▸Ask about their value-add
▸Before taking investment, ask for
references from their portfolio
founders

22. G E T T H I S D E C K A T
playventures.vc/readbeforeraising
C O N N E C T W I T H M E
@ppphyl
linkedin.com/in/phyliciakoh/
phylicia@playventures.vc