Next Lab Finance & Tech Navarra will bring together investors with Spanish animation and video game producers to promote financing for the sector

Next Lab Finance & Tech Navarra will be the first event in Spain that will promote investment in the animation and video game industry in our country, putting investors in contact with producers in the sector.

The organization of the event, developed at the initiative of Next Lab and promoted and organized with the main support of the Government of Navarra and the public company NICDO, presented this morning in Madrid some of the companies, speakers and investors who will attend the event.

The program of the event, which will be held from June 27 to 29 in Pamplona, includes workshops, debate tables, conferences and case studies that will allow attendees to know the current situation of the sector. And it will bring together regional, state and European institutions, investors and capital funds with some of the most cutting-edge Spanish companies in animation and video games, which develop high-tech projects that will allow innovation not only in the audiovisual sector but also , in other industries of the Spanish business fabric.

These include the analysis of 'ALICE', an interreg European collaboration project for the animation sector, and the success of Tequila Works, a Spanish video game developer that has managed to get Tencent, the largest entertainment company in the world, enter its shareholding.

Thus, attendees at Next Lab Finance & Tech Navarra will participate in conferences such as AI in content creation, which will feature Sami Arpa, CEO of Largo AI, a Investor Showcase, where it will be analyzed what investment funds are looking for to bet on animation and video game projects, or Territory Focus: Navarra, Investment and Innovation, where an overview of the ecosystem and several driving projects in the region based on innovation projects will be offered.

The June event will feature animation companies, developers, VR companies, experts and national and international stakeholders, with the aim of creating quality networking.

In addition, technological projects that develop tools for the sector and experimental projects or projects with new business models for start-ups and consolidated animation, video game and virtual reality companies will be presented.

José Luis Farias, director of Next Lab Finance & Tech Navarra, states that “This event represents a revolution within the sector since it is the first time in our country that investors with animation or video game projects meet in the same place with the aim of finding new avenues of financing that help carry out these projects. and to consolidate Spain as one of the reference countries in the sector”.

Furthermore, as highlighted by the general director of Culture Ignacio Apezteguía, Next Lab Finance & Tech Navarra “It will strengthen the creative ecosystem of our community, where culture is an engine of change and social cohesion that favors collaborative creation processes. Recognizing, of course, the interest of the sector from an industrial or economic development perspective but, above all, basing our action on the cultural interest of video games, as proposed by the Ministry of Culture and Sports and by the European Union itself”.

For her part, the general director of Innovation, Agurtzane Martínez, has highlighted the need to “build stable bridges between innovation and the audiovisual world with the aim of changing the paradigm of the sector”, which will allow us to explore the opportunities offered by technology and innovation, as well as promote new and innovative ways of financing.

Likewise, Martínez has pointed out that none of the agents that make up the Navarra R&D&I System (SINAI) is specialized in the audiovisual sector, which is why he has considered that “Next Lab Finance & Tech Navarra is a key event for “strengthen that relationship and strengthen ties not only at the level of our region, but throughout the State.”

María Peña Mateos, CEO of ICEX – Spain Exports and Investors, explained that “Next Lab Finance & Tech Navarra will serve to create image and knowledge in the sector, promote networking, creating a space to attract potential strategic partners in the industry and support companies in the sector in their internationalization.”. 

Next Lab Finance & Tech Navarra has been designed with the aim of bringing the world of animation and video game production closer to that of financing and investments. Everything, to respond to the difficulties that these industries go through when it comes to finding financing for projects that incorporate disruptive technologies and R&D&I processes. 

Finally, and taking into account that places are very limited, the Next Lab Finance & Tech Navarra organization will open the accreditation period, through its website, from May 31 to June 3, for CEO and CFO of investment companies and the animation and video game industries, so profiles interested in participating will be able to register during those days to join this important international event. 

The initiative has the main support of the Government of Navarra and the public company NICDO; the sponsorship of ICEX and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation; the participation of Cultural Industries, Intellectual Property and Cooperation of the Ministry of Culture and Sports; and the collaboration of Instituto Francés, CLAVNA, Diboos, DEV and AEVI.