The Starter Fund
What is the Starter Fund?
Is your studio new to professional games development or are you a university graduate company with commitment towards growing your business? Do you have a great idea for a game with a proven market, the beginnings of a studio that can grow and have bags of entrepreneurial drive?
If you’re a solo developer working with contractors or at the beginning of your professional games development journey, the Starter Fund could be the right fit for you.
With grants of £20,000 available for own-IP development, a pathway offering a structured programme of professional support, and a direct link to the Prototype Fund, the Starter Fund is the perfect route into the UK Games Fund for graduate, very early stage and solo developers.
Who is the Starter Fund for?
We are looking for skilled games developers with entrepreneurial drive (minimum age 18+), but who may have little or no professional industry experience in running a self sustaining business.
Are you:
- A new games development studio with hands-on development experience but not sure where to start on the business side?
- A UK university graduate company that are looking to turn a prototype idea into a commercial IP but need some support to refine your professional skills and are eager to engage in key learning around business and industry development?
- A solo developer working with skilled UK-based contractors but not sure yet about growing your in-house development team?
The Starter Fund could be the right fit for you!
The Pathways
We have two paths to access support from the Starter Fund; the Fresh Start and Head Start Pathways.
Not sure which is for you? Use this handy checklist to make your selection:
Fresh Start Pathway
Head Start Pathway
Your Suitability
Applicants to the Starter Fund should consider the following as a baseline regarding suitability for funding.
- You are at the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey; you want to explore how a grant from the Starter Fund will help your business grow and how your IP will act as springboard to long term sustainability.
- Applicants must be a wholly-UK company at date of application (see point below for more on this). That is, a UK company that has been registered at Companies House and whose directors are all UK citizens, resident in and working from the UK.
- You should not establish a company just to make this application and we will expect to see a ten week gap at minimum between registration and application.
- You have a good idea of the game you want to make and a plan for how you will go about making it a commercial success, but you might not have all the answers! You have the skills needed to perform your role in the business and a passion for the game you want to make.
- You may be an early-stage company or a solo developer looking to work with contractors, or a university graduate company possibly working in an accelerator or your university. The main thing is, you have an ambition to grow as a commercial studio and want to make the most of a possible Starter Fund grant to help you on that journey.
- Applicants may be skilled developers but may need support in the business development side of setting up a studio: taking a game to market, community building, industry networking and development of pitching skills.
- There is a potential market for your game, but you may not yet have the fleshed-out network or audience to prove the case.
- You may have completed some early concept work and have either a proof-of-concept demo or other visual pre-production work, so that you can show your project in the best light in your application.
- You will have a clear idea of what your unique selling point or other market differentiator is – being able to communicate this clearly will help build confidence in your project.
- You may have a development team, either as UK-based paid staff or UK-based contractors, that is either in place or is ready to come on board quickly if you are successful – being able to describe the specific attributes of your team helps to prove your overall development capability.
- If your studio has had funding from the UK Games Fund before, you may be eligible for either the Prototype or Content Fund. The Starter Fund is not for previously funded companies.
Your funded project work (the funded portion of the project) should be able to start in summer 2026.
We will only accept one application from an established studio or solo developer per UK Games Fund programme in any given financial year. The criteria for the Starter Fund, Prototype Fund and Content Fund are distinctly different and even if you believe that you could make a case for multiple applications (either with the same or different IPs) we won’t consider them in parallel open rounds.
How it Works
- Funding must be used on labour costs only, relating to the Funded Project. UK-based employee and/or contractors will be eligible. You can pay for other labour, project and business costs yourself.
- You are ready to focus on building a sustainable studio, using outside work – such as non-related employment – only as support until full-time commitment is possible.
- Successful grantees will receive 50% payment of grant in advance of commencement, usually within four weeks of contract completion. The balance of the 50% will be paid after a mid-point monitoring check in.
- Starter Fund companies will be required to submit update reports on progress.
- All Directors of funded companies will need to verify their identity on Yoti.
FAQs
The Starter Fund is designed to support early-stage, high potential start up games development companies, solo developers at the beginning of the foundership journey towards growth, and university graduate studios. There are different Pathways for those who would benefit from more structured programme support over the course of the Starter Fund, and for those who are confident in their abilities to get to the point of applying to the Prototype Fund with grant support alone.
The funding available will act as a contribution to your labour costs as a start-up company and is not designed to pay for everything. It aims to give you time to get on your feet, progress the pitchable elements of your project, evidence it commercially (including validating your audience), develop a strong business plan, and advance your team building, ideally to the point where you could meet the commercial criteria to apply for Prototype Funding. At the very least, you should be able to continue your enterprise with a well-developed business case and compelling pitch for your project.
All Starter Fund companies will be required to have games development experience, and will fall into one of the three following categories:
- Solo developers with some commercial experience, with a team of contractors lined up with a view to growing as a business.
- Early stage university graduate companies with entrepreneurial hustle looking to scale the business.
- Early stage start ups with some commercial experience with an idea for a game but need to validate the audience.
If your studio has had funding from the UK Games Fund before, you may be eligible for either the Prototype or Content Fund. The Starter Fund is not for previously funded companies.
If your company has had Content Fund support or Prototype Funding the Starter Fund is not for you. We’d expect companies that have taken part in one of our programmes before to apply to another funding stream, i.e. the Prototype or Content Fund, assuming you can meet the criteria.
Any teams or individuals that have taken part in Tranzfuser and have not had Prototype Fund grant funding, are eligible to apply to the Head Start Pathway only. Where a Tranzfuser team / DunDev studio has gone on to secure any UK Games Fund grant support in the past, they are ineligible for the Starter Fund and should consider the Prototype or Content Fund if eligible.
You are committed to growing a self-sustaining business, with ambition to develop your own IP and to get ready to pitch for the Prototype Fund further down the line. If you are using outside work to support your development, the majority of your time and focus must still be spent on your Starter Fund project.
Applicants who are selected for the Fresh Start Pathway will gain access to a facilitator, self-study learning materials, and other industry expertise as part of a programme of entrepreneurial support.
No. We don’t require grant repayment or take any IP – we only ask for a community contribution (time you give back to helping others in the game dev community). However, if a funded company defaults on the funding agreement or otherwise breaks the rules, the grant will be liable for repayment (details will be set out in any formal agreement with successful applicants).
UK Games Fund grants are to be spent on labour costs only relating to the production of the approved project. Successful Starter Fund applicants will receive more guidance in due course.
The Head Start and Fresh Start Pathways are our two distinct routes to Starter Fund grant support. Both are designed to support early stage indie games companies based in the UK, using UK games development talent, helping them to scale and grow their businesses.
The Fresh Start Pathway is designed for university graduate companies or wholly new, early-stage studios, where some business support would be useful. The Head Start Pathway is designed for those with a bit more experience, who can more easily push things forwards themselves.
No, but there are distinct similarities between Tranzfuser and the Fresh Start Pathway.
The Fresh Start Pathway will specifically support early stage, active university graduate games development companies (and eligible early stage companies) that are already on the path to self sustainable growth but with the added framework of professional guidance, mentorship and increased levels of funding.
We’re applying the learning from our many years of running Tranzfuser to the Starter Fund, to best support the UK’s entrepreneurial graduate games development companies to continue to grow, become better established as businesses, and to be ready to pitch to the Prototype Fund.
If after reading through all information supplied here you still have a question, you can contact us here.
How to Apply
The following information applies to both Pathways.
Applicants are advised:
- Registration on our grant platform is required to submit your application. Full details of dates, payment and Starter Fund structure are available on our application form.
- Applicants will be required to upload a 2-minute pitch video and submit a written form via our application platform.
- Applicants must be registered with Companies House. You should not establish a company just to make this application and we will expect to see a minimum of a ten week gap between registration and application.
Online Information Session Sign up
Friday 8th May – NOW FULL
Wednesday 20th May
Guideline to programme structure and key dates*
May-26
Jun-July-26
Aug-Sept 2026
*All dates are subject to change at our discretion
Apply Now!
Deadline for submission: 1st June*
*In the event of extreme demand, we reserve the right to cap the number of submissions we assess.