29/6/2023
Finance
Next Lab Finance & Tech Navarra, the event that boosts the animation and video game industry in Spain by putting companies and studios in the sector in contact with investors and financing funds, has successfully completed its second edition held on June 28th and 29th in Pamplona (Navarra).
The meeting, which was supported by the Government of Navarra through the public company NICDO and sponsored by ICEX, brought together nearly 100 of the main companies in the sector over the two days, consolidating its position as one of the most important events in the industry in our country.
"The aim of this conference is to accompany the animation and video game sectors in their progress with innovation, to generate professional meetings in which alliances and joint projects emerge, and also to make visible and seek new forms of financing at a time when we consider alliances to be fundamental and strategic", says Rebeca Esnaola, Consejera de Cultura y Deporte of the Government of Navarre.
For this reason, one of the objectives of Next Lab Finance & Tech Navarra was to promote networking between animation and video game companies and studios with public and private investors, institutions, co-producers, technology companies, consultants and industry decision makers. With this objective in mind, the organization facilitated around 150 meetings between professionals over the two days, with the aim of generating synergies and establishing new contacts and collaborations between attendees.
"Next Lab Finance & Tech Navarra has become an essential event because it directly addresses the sector's main needs: financing and investment, and innovation and technology. This year we have been surprised by the positive response from investors, who, thanks to the success of the first edition, have shown great interest in taking part in the event right from the start. The task ahead is for the animation and video game sector to be up to the task, and to professionalize the business side as well as the creative side, in which we are already an international power", says Jose Luis Farias, director of the event.
Proof of this was the presence of several investors of national reference and intentionality such as Bitkraft Ventures, DeAPlaneta Entertainment, Elipsis Capital, Joystick Ventures, New Renaissance Ventures and Triple Dragon, which made a luxury panel in which they gave first-hand knowledge of what investors are looking for and how to work with them.
The event was also the setting chosen to present the new edition of SSIFF: Spanish Screenings Financing & Tech, which will be held at the San Sebastian Festival and will bring together international investors and talent representatives with national production companies. José Manuel Arias, Industry Coordinator at SSIFF, stressed that this year the festival will continue its commitment to the Zinemaldia Startup Challenge, a competition for Spanish entrepreneurs and start-ups.
Another of the topics addressed during the event were Blockchain and NFT technologies, led by Adrián Garelik, one of the leading experts in the field. The founder of Bluebits and Flixxo explained the opportunities of this investment and financing channel, and analyzed real cases.
Another of the current topics presented at the event was the use of Artificial Intelligence in the creation of content. The studio Dr. Platypus & Ms. Wombat presented for the first time Emotional Films, a project based on the combination of eight AI models with the aim of generating personalized films, which adapt in real time according to the viewer's emotions. The project has involved a large team of researchers, and includes the technology corporation ADItech, the Public University of Navarra (UPNA), the University of Navarra (UN) and the Resource Centre for Educational Equity in Navarra (CREENA).
The conference also included a space for the presentation of IBERMEDIA NEXT, a new line of aid from the Ibermedia Programme whose call for applications, open until August 21st, will provide up to 150,000 euros per project for innovative productions from Ibero-America to boost collaboration between the different countries in the region.
José Luis Farias, executive producer of the Quirino Awards, collaborators alongside La Liga de la Animación Iberoamericana of IBERMEDIA NEXT, was in charge of presenting this new line of aid and the free online matchmaking platform IBERMEDIA NEXT Plaza, in a presentation in which Jara Ayucar, Director of Marketing Policies of the ICAA, also took part.
The meeting also provided an opportunity to present some of the financial instruments available to companies in the audiovisual industry, video games and immersive content in order to find funding. Representatives of the Spain Audiovisual Hub; the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation; Industrias Culturales, Ministry of Culture and Sport; ICO; CREA SGR; CDTI and ENISA, explained in a conference the different lines of aid available to them, as well as their advantageous conditions compared to other financial alternatives and the requirements needed to access them.
"At ICEX we are firmly convinced that internationalization makes companies more competitive and stronger, and that is why events like this one are fundamental", said Eduardo Sánchez, Head of the Department of Financing and Investor Relations at Invest in Spain - ICEX, in his opening remarks. In this second edition, the event in Navarra was attended by professionals and companies from six different countries (Austria, Argentina, Spain, France, United Kingdom and the Netherlands).
The meeting also held the announcement of the winning project of the Euroregional Animation Award, organized by the New Aquitaine-Euskadi-Navarre Euroregion, which aims to promote cooperation initiatives for audiovisual projects in development. The winner was the short film El cuerpo de Cristo, an adaptation of the comic of the same name that delves into mental disorders, directed by Bea Lema and produced by Uniko.
During the two days, workshops, round tables, conferences and case studies specializing in animation and video games were held to learn about the current situation of the industry, discover new channels and funding opportunities and boost competitiveness within the industry through the exhibition of the latest technological innovations.
The success of this second edition of Next Lab Finance & Tech Navarra reinforces the Government of Navarra's commitment to the animation and video game industry both to boost the region's economy and to become one of the sector's benchmark communities at a national level for companies and professionals.
Next Lab Finance & Tech has the main support of the Government of Navarra through 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 Sport and the ICAA; and the collaboration of CLAVNA, Diboos, DEV, AEVI, San Sebastian International Film Festival, Annecy Festival, UHY Fay & Co, Baluarte, Navarra Film Industry and Bodega Otazu.