“It’s a complete game-changer” Jeco CEO Emily Bailey on Investment Readiness and shining a light on UK video game finance
The road to securing finance can be a complex path to follow. Few know this as well as Emily Bailey. In her career so far, she’s managed to spin a game that started life as a university dissertation project into a successful title that’s busy crowdfunding its next phase. In fact, Project Grove proved so popular with audiences that it led Bailey to start her own indie studio, leading a small team of developers and learning on the job about video game finance.
At the same time, she’s made a point of being vocal about the health of the UK’s games development sector and how it can learn from international models, which has positively impacted her work at Code Coven, the gaming accelerator helping marginalised talent.
Recently, she’s also co-founded the new software company Jeco, aiming to help both gamers and developers reduce the gaming industry's carbon footprint by monitoring energy use and carbon output per game for players through game optimisation and a Green SDK.
Being busy clearly suits her, as Bailey was highlighted as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 for 2024. Right now, you’ll find her on our Investment Readiness scheme where her passion for leveling the playing field for developers meets direct investor interaction.
“Unless you’ve got money from the bank of mum and dad it’s really hard to create something in the UK,” she tells us when we catch up part way through her Creative Enterprise journey. “I started looking at games launched in 2022 that were backed by a publisher and tracked where their studio was based, what country it was in, how much money they made and what their team make-up looked like – and hardly any were from UK studios,” she says. “Loads were from different countries, all of which had substantial government funding programmes.”
According to Bailey, the UK’s video games sector hasn’t been as fortunate. To secure larger publishing or investment deals, indie studios and start-ups that are deemed by some a riskier bet must first prove themselves with a substantial release. However, securing the financial overhead to create the runway necessary to deliver that sample project or MVP is easier said than done.
“We’ve got an issue in the UK video games industry where there isn’t any funding support or infrastructure in place for first-time developers, whether it’s games or software, to create what they need to show investors to get third-party funding,” suggests Bailey. “That’s one of the major barriers of getting private funding.” As one of the creative sector’s most lucrative exports, it’s a major setback and one that’s hitting female-founded studios even harder. “For every one pound of private investment, just one penny goes to female founders so we’ve got a huge challenge,” she continues. “We’re missing out on a huge opportunity. I’m hoping things change with a new government but I think part of the onus is on us as an industry to speak with a collective voice.”
Through Investment Readiness, Bailey hopes to not only secure investment for both Project Grove and Jeco’s exciting next chapters but to also gain the skills she needs to create a brighter future for the sector as a whole. “I can talk confidently about my projects and long-term plans but I get a bit nervous when anyone talks about fundraising jargon because, honestly, it’s really hard,” she admits. “The thing people forget about small businesses like mine is that you’re there because in the first instance, you want to make something unique for players, and suddenly you have to run a business alongside that – and that’s quite a learning curve. The thing Creative UK has done incredibly well is make it all more accessible.”
While she may find bringing cool ideas to life a breeze, the nuts and bolts of pitching her companies to investors was a trickier nut to crack – until now. “I was getting a bit stuck on how to construct a cap table that I understood and could eloquently walk through that catered for the nuances and complexities of IP and slate development – but my mentor guided me through the whole process and now I feel super confident whenever I talk about it,” smiles Bailey. “I now know what the wider picture for fundraising rounds looks like and I wouldn’t have had I not gone on this programme.”
Of course, Bailey’s prior experience in the sector helped. However, having direct access to an industry mentor provided the opportunity to add new strings to her bow as a creative founder. “You can pitch more confidently when you’re secure in the details – and that’s what this programme has afforded me,” she says. “The mentoring has been really key. There are only so many YouTube videos you can watch. Having someone who’s been on both sides of fundraising who really knows the process and can walk me through what I’m creating is a complete game changer. It’s honestly so valuable.”
Looking ahead, Bailey has big plans for the future. “The thing I want to get out of Investment Readiness is to have a clear idea of what I’m pitching, and I think I’m definitely set up for that.” At the same time, and hopes to continue championing the video game sector and its value to the UK’s creative economy. “We’re almost succeeding in spite of government support, rather than because of it. Typically, we’re the top revenue-generating creative industry in the UK and there are so many good things that games can do for society,” she reasons. “We really need to hammer home that message.”