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NESTA funding will make games a reality

12/02/2008

"This is a good example of the kind of informed risk early-stage capital must take if we're to drive the UK economy forward."

NESTA is investing £100K to help develop 'Six to Start', an innovative entertainment start-up company that creates immersive 'Alternate Reality Games' (ARG), it announced today.

The brainchild of Dan and Adrian Hon, Six to Start creates interactive games that take place in real-time and evolve depending on players' decisions. Participants are challenged to solve plot-based puzzles using a range of media from the internet to phone and email online and in the real world.

With these kind of games increasingly sought after by advertising and marketing companies or as online content for broadcasters and production companies, Six to Start has already secured a commission from Channel 4 and is in discussions to take this further, along with an innovative project working with Penguin exploring online storytelling.

Six to Start will use the capital from NESTA to recruit a team to develop its games concepts. In addition to financial backing, NESTA will provide ongoing mentoring and support and is already in the process of appointing an experienced Chairman, Tim Cooke, who has led other start-ups to successful buy-outs in the past.

Six to Start joins over forty companies in NESTA's investment portfolio, which brings together a cross section of early-stage start-ups from the technology, health and clean-tech sectors.

With BVCA data showing a 17% decrease in the number of early-stage technology companies that received investment from 2005 to 2006, proving the viability of this kind of investment is more important than ever according to NESTA CEO, Jonathan Kestenbaum.

Commenting on the investment, he said:

"This is a good example of the kind of informed risk early-stage capital must take if we're to drive the UK economy forward. Six to Start may have a way to go in its development but there is a significant market for these games, and the management team embodies the kind of relentless ambition that successful entrepreneurs need."

Dan Hon added:

"This investment will be critical if we're to take advantage of this rapidly growing market while it's still in its infancy. We've had fantastic support and encouragement to date from NESTA, and look forward to working with them to make this happen."

For further information, please contact the NESTA press office on 0207 438 2608.

About NESTA

NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts. With endowed funds of over £300 million, our mission is to transform the UK's capacity for innovation. We do this in three main ways: by working to build a more pervasive culture of innovation in this country; by providing innovators with access to early-stage capital; and by driving forward research into innovation, with a view to influencing policy.