Winners of the AAU Startup Grant 2023
CinderCat Games
Winners of the AAU Startup Grant 2023
CinderCat Games
The team behind CinderCat Games
- No Alexander G. Edvars, Medialogy, AAU
- Christian Bank Johnsen, Medialogy, AAU
- Mathias Alen Mikkel Meineche Halilovic, Medialogy, AAU
- Sebastian Bendt Sørensen, Interactive Digital Media, AAU
- Thea Bjerregaard Nielsen, Interactive Digital Media, AAU
- Mads Aagaard Thomsen, Medialogy, AUU
- Nicolai Lykke, Interactive Digital Media, AAU
- William Skov Hansen
What challenge or problem are you trying to solve with your idea/startup?
“CinderCat Games is a game development startup that creates fun and engaging single-player video games for young adults. The gaming industry is tough, but we and our investors believe that, with our professional business approach and strong creative team, we have very good chances. In addition, we are in the process of creating a good community around the game, which we invest time in, ensuring that it is fun and nice to be a part of. The motivation behind our game, and our startup, is that we want to contribute to greater mental health through entertainment and community, and at the same time be financially sustainable.” Sebastian Bendt Sørensen, CEO, CinderCat Games
What does the AAU Startup Grant mean for your startup's development right now?
"The AAU Startup Grant gives our game project additional air under its wings. It is a condition in game development that the production time is long. It requires continuous fundraising and keeping your player audience interested. There are eight of us full-time in the team, each with a different role, and we are working hard to send our first game, Glum, to the market. In April we will launch a demo aimed at investors and game publishers and then we aim to launch the finished game at the end of 2024”. Sebastian Bendt Sørensen, CEO, CinderCat Games
What made you apply for the AAU Startup Program/ seek out entrepreneurship as graduates?
"Everyone in the team knows each other from the practice-oriented internship course in game design DADIU during our 9th semester. That internship has directly contributed to our joint entrepreneurial journey. No, who is part of our team, got the idea for a game. Then I, Sebastian, came along and together we built the dream team. All eight team members have been involved from the start and are now working full-time on their first game project.”
We think that it says something about the width and quality of the educations that all creative and business roles in the team can be handled by graduates from only two AAU educations. From our educations in Mediaology and Interactive Digital Media, respectively, we have gained the creative and the technical skills and the ability to think in a way that has proven to be unique
"Our participation in the AAU Startup Program has given us the foundation to develop a startup around our game and to focus on validating the business idea. Since then, we have taken various extra education and bookkeeping courses to make it clear that our educations have not been aimed at entrepreneurship. I would like even more focus to be placed on entrepreneurship in our educations, since in the future it means that we create jobs, rather than fighting for the same ones that already exist. We wish they had done that to a greater extent.” Sebastian Bendt Sørensen, CEO, CinderCat Games