"The safety net is set for game developers."

Stitch Heads in Breda is a game development studio that produces games at its own expense and risk. That is uncertain business, because the development takes a lot of time and money, with no guarantee of commercial success.

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Tim Baijens CEO and co-founder Stitch Heads

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In order to be able to finance the development projects, the company also accepts external assignments. "Due to corona, a large project came to a standstill." The company names of game developers are less familiar than the names of their products, the games themselves. This is also true of the Breda start-up Stitch Heads. Tim Baijens, CEO and co-owner: "Our game Kabounce – a multiplayer pinball game – is best known in Japan, China, Russia and America."

Growth

Stitch Heads is working on their own game, projected to be completed within two years. "I cannot tell you anything substantive about it yet. We're talking to some publishers and if we make an agreement, it will go fast. I expect that we will grow from 15 to 25 to 30 employees next year."

Unplugged

The studio was working on an external assignment for a major international event when corona emerged, and the plug was pulled on the project. This meant that an important source of income suddenly evaporated, endangering the continued payment of wages. "B'wise pointed out to me the possibilities of Starter Lift financing." Starterslift and B'wise provide support for start-ups in West Brabant. They take care of the implementation, together with Midpoint Brabant.

Meaningful feedback

"I went into that application process and the experience was very positive. The feedback from Arthur, a Business Developer at B'wise, on the application form and on my concept pitch was very useful. For example, I shortened my presentation considerably and deleted a lot of jargon. Then I presented it, which was my first pitch in Dutch. They’re usually given in English in our industry."

Safety net

The application was approved, but Stitch Heads has not yet (to this day) requested the funding. "When corona came up in China at the beginning of 2020 and was in the news, I was immediately concerned. I activated my network, looking for new assignments. New work finally came in, in the exact same week that I was talking to Arthur and Starterslift. Of course, I naturally informed them and then together we came up with a safety-net construction. The loan is there and ready to use, if, and when, we need it."

High risk, high reward

"I was already discussing financing options with the municipality of Breda before corona. I came into contact with B'wise through the municipality. They suggested the possibilities of the Financing Table West-Brabant, where you pitch to a group of investors and banks. I have done that, but the talks with potential investors are now at a standstill due to corona. The entertainment sector is difficult anyway. You have to invest a lot before you can enter the market and achieve success. It's a high-risk, high-reward business." "The external projects are ongoing, and we are now building a ‘vertical slice’, a test case of our intended new product to convince the publishers. That test example is almost finished and if that catches on, then the future looks good for us. We've also signed a collaboration agreement with the creators of Fortnite, and intend to enter into more of those kinds of arrangements. In this way we can continue to build step-by-step. It's great fun to grow your business and to train new talent."

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Jeroen van Glabbeek CEO/Co-founder CM.com

"You can do anything mediocre, but I just don't like that."
You can do anything mediocre, but I just don't like that.
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Peter de Vos CEO Breda Location VDL Steelweld

"Everything we do is based on technology."
Everything we do is based on technology.
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