Poland-based board game crowdfunding website Gamefound has announced an “investment and partnership” with German toys and games company Ravensburger AG. In a blog post published on Thursday, Gamefound said Ravensburger will “support Gamefound as an investor and strategic partner to fully realise its potential in the games space”.
Ravensburger also announced the partnership on its website, and clarified that it had invested $4.5 million / £3.3 million into Gamefound, as part of its innovation and investment program ‘Next Ventures’. “As a leading international game publisher, we can support Gamefound with more than just the financial investment”, said Ravensburger’s Head of Corporate Development Thomas Bleyer. As Gamefound’s announcement makes clear, the German firm (which has been around since 1883) can also offer advice and industry expertise.
Quoted in the Gamefound post, Ravensburger’s Head of Global Games, Filip Francke, said the partnership would help his firm make more board game pitches into finished products. “Ravensburger evaluates over 1,000 game ideas a year,” he said, adding: “We can ultimately publish only a handful of these games on our own, but hundreds more are concepts we know board game fans would really love.”
“Gamefound makes it easier for all creators to produce the games of their dreams and we’re excited to support a platform that will help deliver even more game experiences to tabletop fans around the world.”
Though both companies have emphasised the focus on innovation and sharing industry expertise as part of this project, it’s not yet clear what changes or new projects may take place at Gamefound as part of the partnership.
Despite only offering crowdfunding services since 2021, the platform has already collected over $22 million / £16.1 million to fund games like ISS Vanguard, Too Many Bones, and Robinson Crusoe: Collector’s Edition. One notable Gamefound success story was one of Wargamer’s favourites, Total War: ROME: The Board Game, which smashed its funding goals in just 35 minutes. You can read more about its development here.
Want to hear more about Gamefound’s success? Check out the details of the Robinson Crusoe Collector’s Edition. Or, if you’re after more crowdfunding news, the creator of Exploding Kittens has just launched a new Kickstarter project.