Six Startups Begin Incubation Program to Build Gaming Companies in NYC

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the New York University Tandon School of Engineering announced the first cohort of the new Game Design Future Lab (GDFL).

The GDFL is a key component of New York City’s strategy to nurture its growing digital gaming ecosystem. It also advances NYU Tandon’s mission of building bridges connecting entrepreneurs with engineering research expertise to help innovative startups achieve market success. The selected companies receive personalized mentorship, industry-specific workshops, investor outreach, access to new technologies as well as NYU faculty and students and professional networking to establish and build successful businesses in NYC. They also have access to dedicated desk space for up to two founders at the NYU Future Labs in Brooklyn as well as office hours with field experts, access to startup benefits including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and HubSpot credits, and support in applying for New York State’s Digital Game Development Program tax credit of 25-35 percent. The program is equity-free. The GDFL’s first cohort includes six companies representing diverse business models and stages of development.

The GDFL is part of NYU Tandon Future Labs, a startup incubator network that began in 2009 with initial funding from NYCEDC. Today, in addition to the GDFL, the network includes the Data Future Lab, Urban Future Lab, and Veterans Future Lab, all co-located at 370 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Since their inception, the Future Labs have supported more than 428 startups that collectively raised over $4.6 billion and created 9,510 jobs, with a 93 percent success rate five years after founding.