Industry Specialists to Speak on the Topics of Financing and Business Development at GC Asia Conference 2007
GC Asia Conference (GCAC)
(September 6-7, 2007)
Leipzig, Germany - August 31, 2007 - GC Asia Conference, (September 6-7, 2007), today announced a wide variety of lectures and panels featuring leading industry speakers on a range of topics from financing to business development. GCAC will be held alongside the GC Asia exhibition, September 6-9, 2007, at the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Center.
Presentations to investors are especially critical for start-up companies as these meetings are when the future of many companies are decided. In a lecture entitled, "Pitching the Gatekeepers," Douglas Abrams will examine the preparation of a business plan, the investor's mindset during the pitch, and ways to avoid critical presentation mistakes. Abrams is founder and CEO of Expara, a business accelerator for interactive and digital media companies and the Co-Deputy Chairman of the South East Asia Business Angel Investor Network (Bansea). Prior to coming to Singapore, he managed information technology at J.P. Morgan for 14 years.
On the finance roundtable, panelists Pierre Hennes (Upstream Ventures) and Anwar Ali Mustafa Jumabhoy (Senior Vice President, Seed Ventures) will speak alongside Douglas Abrams on the different funding avenues available to developers, from project financing through angel investors, to venture capital. Anwar Ali Mustafa Jumabhoy, joined MAVCAP in 2004, and is primarily responsible for investments in early stage technology companies. He also serves as Chairman of ISS Consulting Solution Berhad, a MESDAQ (Malaysian Exchange of Securities Dealing & Automated Quotation) listed company.
Pierre Hennes is a Partner and co-founder of Upstream Ventures. He has over ten years of combined corporate and start-up business experience across Europe, Asia and America in multiple sectors including finance, internet and new media, real estate, and the arts. He is also a Director of BANSEA - the Business Angels Network of Southeast Asia. In his lecture, "Entrepreneurs & VCs - Partnering for Success: an Asian perspective," Hennes will examine the early-stage investment climate across Asia, highlighting key growth factors, future trends and opportunities, with a particular focus on the gaming sector. Further he will look at funding from the entrepreneur's perspective: partnering with the right investor and the key factors to consider when raising funds.
As online payments continue to grow in popularity, especially in Asia, existing payment platforms are limited by transaction size and the nature of credit card driven processing platforms. Challenges in incumbent online payments systems are exacerbated by a new generation of consumers - those under 18 - that are proving to be an important economic segment companies cannot afford to ignore. In his lecture, "Micro-payments for Games," Addison Kang, CEO of Cherry Credits, will address a variety of topics: the future of micro-payments and how they are intrinsically tied to young consumers; how the next wave of services - online entertainment and gaming - are proving to be the trendsetters in micro-payments; and how merchants can extend their reach to this potentially lucrative consumer segment. He will also discuss current challenges, trends and opportunities, and how online micro-payment platforms like the Unified Global Virtual Credit (UGVC) can help companies bridge the profit divide to youth audiences. Addison was most recently CEO and founder of AsiaSoft Online - one of Asia's largest providers of experiential and collaborative online gaming content - where he pioneered the Asian Free-to-Play business model with benchmark online gaming titles such as MapleStory and Audition.
Rising production costs and constantly changing relationships between publishers and developers as well as the appearance of new independent game producers, require alternative and flexible financing models. Siggi Koegl, CEO an president of Attaction, will give a lecture entitled, "Funding Models for AAA Video, Computer and Online Game Productions." Scheduled for the first day of the conference, Koegl will compare new and classic financing models for AAA games. His emphasis will be innovative ways of funding international AAA game projects and analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of each model.
Media Contacts:
Leipzig Fair
Stephan Reiss, Press Officer
+49 (0) 341 - 678 8186
s.reiss@leipziger-messe.de
North America
Sean Kauppinen, Kohnke Communications
+1 415-777 - 4000
sean@kohnkecomm.com
Contact for GCA
Exhibitors, sponsors, and participants:
Jorg Zeissig, General Manager LMI
+49 (0) 341 - 678 7900
j.zeissig@LM-international.com
Contact for GCAC
Sponsors, speakers and participants:
Frank Sliwka, Project Director
+49 (0) 341 - 678 8288
f.sliwka@leipziger-messe.de
GC Asia Conference and GCDC on the internet:
http://www.gc-asia.sg
http://www.gcdc.eu
About GC Asia/GC Asia Conference
The Games Convention Asia (GCA) is the only Convention in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region for interactive entertainment, infotainment, edutainment, hardware and technology. The fair is organized with the LMI (Leipziger Messe International GmbH), a subsidiary of the Leipziger Messe GmbH, and CEMS
(Conference & Exhibition management services Pte Ltd. Singapore). It is accompanied by the GCA Business Centre, which will be utilized as a business platform equipped with internet access points, presentation technology and catering. The concept of the Games Convention Asia Conference (GCAC) is, "Developing & Development," and in producing the "GCA 2007 Competition". The organizer's goal is to firmly establish what will be the Asia-Pacific region's largest convention devoted to digital media, computer games, entertainment and educational software as well as hardware. www.gc-asia.sg