London-Based Brainspark Games Secures £1.4 Million Grant and Angel Investment
Brainspark games today announced it has secured £1.4m in angel investment and its 7th Innovate UK ‘Investor Partnership’ grant. £700,000 has been secured, with participation from a range of ‘Super Angels’ consisting of seasoned investors, games and education industry veterans, exited founders and institutional investors.
Led by Dave Haynes of FOV Ventures and Nick Button-Brown of the UK Games Angels, including; Jonathon Bunney, Callum Underwood, Afsor Miah, Vince Farquharson, the round attracted a range of key angel investors; Sadik Miah, Islée Oliva Salinas, Michael A. C. Buckley, Omar Brihi, Wahed Ventures, Mart Lume and a number of private individuals.
The raise was oversubscribed offering SEIS and EIS to its investors. Funding will be used to support technical development, the ethical use of AI, hire engineering, production and sales talent. The team has spent the last two years undertaking deep R&D, to drive innovation, supported by seven highly competitive Innovate UK grants amounting to £1.3m in total over 3years, working with world class universities to deliver its English, Climate, History, Art, Maths, Languages, Sciences, Tech & Coding, Sports & Wellbeing, Innovation & Internship amongst other games.
Brainspark Games
Brainspark Games, founded by mother of three, and qualified Barrister, Reedah El-Saie, is a multi-award winning EdTech Gaming studio, building free, AI-powered, Augmented Reality, educational games aligned with the UK national curriculum including key stages 2&3 and GCSEs. Condensing 12 weeks of term time learning into a few hours of fun, fast, game-play, Brainspark Games is pioneering neurogames technology.
Investor testimonials
Nick Button-Brown; “when Reedah talked through her vision, Brainspark Games felt like something that had to happen and I wanted to help her make it happen”
Dave Haynes; “FOV Ventures believes we’re entering a new era of increasingly intelligent and immersive apps and experiences. By leveraging technology such as AI and XR we’re excited for Brainspark Games and Reedah’s mission to radically augment and enhance how the UK curriculum can be delivered to a diverse range of students”, FOV Ventures.
Jonathan Bunney; “After a lifetime working in entertainment, it’s great to be part of something that combines fun with really valuable learning. It’s time to bring education into the 21st Century!”
Afsor Miah: “I truly recognised Brainspark Games potential to help engage kids in learning through play when I saw my son engrossed in a gamified history lesson… that’s when knew I had to get involved!”
Islée Oliva Salinas; “Because the team aspires to ignite the imagination of young minds through clever animation and playful ingenuity, Brainspark Games creates an innovative source of inspiration in the realm of education with Reedah El Saie at the helm. Thrilled to be part of this magical journey”
Vince Farquharson; “After 30 years in the industry and hitting a certain time in my life, I’ve become very interested in those who want to make; good games that do good, and Brainspark Games absolutely hits that mark.”
Callum Underwood; “One of my few angel investments. As the parent of an autistic child – I think it’s incredibly important to provide tools for learning outside of the current system. Incredibly impressed with the work that Reedah does – she’s an absolute powerhouse.”
Reedah El-Saie seedfunded £470,000 through early startup phase, enabling Brainspark Games to gain significant traction and win a number of accolades over the last few years;
71k downloads having released History Realm featuring The Tudors in the Apple & Google Play Stores
Playtested with 3,000+ children, parents & educators
Nov ’23: Winner of Creative Women Platform ‘Excellence in Technology’ Award
Oct ’23: Winner AWE XR Top European ’Startup To Watch Auggie Award 2023 Prize’, Austria
Oct ’23: featured in Prime Minister’s ‘Council for Science & Technology’ R&D report case study of high impact educational games on neurodiverse pupils. (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/reedah-el-saie_cst-gaming-educationalgames-activity-7122137084684824576-apwb/)
July ’23: ’Top 100 Asians in Tech’
April ’23: Semi-finalist for 2023 GSV Cup, Elite 200, San Diego, USA
Feb ’23: featured in HolonIQ’s ‘Europe’s EdTech 200’, Advanced Technology
Jan ’23: Finalist for ‘AWEXR Climate Education’ Challenge Prize, USA
July ’22: Guest exhibitor/speaker at Festival of Education, ‘London Tech Week’, ‘World EdTech Forum’
April ’22: Speaker ASU+GSV Summit ‘Future of Learning: Metaverse, Web3 & Educational Mobile Games’
Feb ’22: Nominated for ‘Best Social Impact’ Unity Award
Feb ’22: Semi-finalist for 2022 GSV Cup, Elite 200
Nov ’21: 4 x awards at DevelopHer Awards including ‘Game Development’ sponsored by Amazon,
Nov ’21: Top 30 Global Winners of ‘EdTech Creator Challenge’ by GSV & Unity
Sept ’21: Creative Industries ‘100 Ones To Watch 2021’
July ’21: featured in UK Tech News as ‘1 of London’s most diverse tech startups’
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