Levelling up: the growth of the UK video game space

The first video game is thought to have been created in October 1958 by physicist William Higinbotham, a simple tennis game similar to that of the 1970s video game Pong. Since then, video games have grown in popularity, with the video game market projected to reach a revenue of US$564bn in 2026, according to Statista. In addition, the purpose of video games has expanded beyond entertainment into other areas such as education, mental health, and marketing.

The video games sector encompasses more than just the studios who create and publish their own games; it includes a range of businesses, from those who specialise in audio and graphics to bodies who host Esports competitions. In this report, we take a look at the UK’s video games sector as a whole and then focus in on a selected seven companies that operate within the sector.

Fundraising activity of companies in the UK video games sector

Fundraising activity over the past 10 years for the UK video games sector

Data source: Beauhurst

So far, 2022 saw the highest peak in the total amount raised through fundraisings, a 24% increase from 2021. Despite the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, with slow hardware sales and major titles experiencing delays in development, companies in the sector turned to fundraising to weather unexpected setbacks, obstacles, or delays.

Since 2022, the total amount raised through fundraising has been going back and forth from levels seen pre-pandemic to those close to the 2022 peak. Surprisingly, 2026 has already seen a large amount of fundraising being raised, at £385m. However, 95% of this was raised by one company, ElevenLabs, who are a voice AI research and deployment company. This was a Series D funding round which was led by Sequoia Capital. Elvenlabs was valued at $11bn, more than triple its valuation from the prior year. The plan is to use the funding to continue the expansion of their research and product, including their international expansion across London, New York, San Francisco, Warsaw, Dublin, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Bengaluru, Sydney, São Paulo, Berlin, Paris, and Mexico City through their locally embedded go-to-market teams who support the enterprise adoption of ElevenAgents and ElevenCreative worldwide.

Characteristics of video games companies

Stage of evolution for companies in the UK video games sector

Data source: Beauhurst

Companies operating in this industry are likely to be in the early start-up stages, with the next most likely option being either dead or zombied. Not many companies seem to be able to progress further into the growth and established stages.

A good proportion have exited, either through acquisition or IPO. Of the 123 exits, 92% were by acquisition achieving average acquisition prices of £78m. While less companies went through an IPO, they, on average, achieved greater market capitalisations at £113m.

Data source: Beauhurst

As displayed in both graphs, a wide range of other industries/sectors are linked to video games, either indirectly, such as because the company has several different focuses, or directly, by supplying the required technology, for example.

It is unsurprising that over a third of companies represented here have a connection to mobile apps, given their continuing rise in popularity. Mobile gaming evolved from simple, text-based games thanks to the introduction of smartphones that allowed for more complex and engaging mobile games to be made by providing a platform with powerful processors, high-resolution screens, and advanced touch interfaces. According to a report by Newzoo, mobile gaming had a global revenue of $189B in 2025, with it predicted to reach $207bn by 2028.

Company profiles

We will now place the spotlight on seven selected companies operating within the sector.

Brainspark Games

Evolution: Venture

Fundraising:

£30k equity investment in 2024 for a 3% stake. Investors were Business Angels.
£701k equity investment in 2024 for a 10% stake. Investors were Business Angels.

Grants:

£34.8k grant awarded in 2022 by Innovate UK.
£50k grant awarded in 2022 by Innovate UK.
£349k grant awarded in 2022 by Innovate UK.
£50k grant awarded in 2023 by Innovate UK.
£70k grant awarded in 2023 by Digital, managed by Innovate UK.
£70k grant awarded in 2024 by Innovate UK.
£700k grant awarded in 2024 by Innovate UK.
£350k grant awarded in 2025 by Innovate UK.

Industries: Application software, Courses and educational material, Schools, Tutoring, training, coaching and skills development, Video games

Buzzwords: Artificial Intelligence, Augmented reality, Digital and technologies, EdTech, Gamification, Mobile apps

London-based Brainspark Games are connecting virtual with real-life learning through their free, culturally inclusive and immersive educational games aimed at enhancing literacy and numeracy. Their founder is Reedah El-Saie, graduate of the London School of Economics and University College London, a qualified barrister, and a mother of three, who grew frustrated with an antiquated education system which is not built for diverse learners after witnessing thousands of children go through stress and anxiety from constant exams and revision. Seeing how Fortnite, which was often played by her son during revision breaks, was able to appeal to and transcend barriers for children, made her imagine how educational information could be delivered through open world games. Despite having no gaming or technical experience, she founded the company in 2021 while bootstrapping and seed funding for the MVP prototype.

The company’s mission is to foster a love of learning through play by providing free inclusive and fun educational experiences for all types of learners so that no child is left behind. Their plan is to create games that are completely aligned with the national curriculum, Key Stages 2 and 3, and provide preparation for exams like the (I)GCSEs, 11+, and 13+. They collaborate with academic experts, subject matter specialists, and curriculum innovators to ensure that they are providing a unique, fact-checked, and culturally inclusive curriculum through their games. They plan to have games that cover all subjects, including Art, Biology, Careers, Climate, Chemistry, Design, Enterprise & Innovation, English, History, Languages, Mathematics, Music, Physics, Sports & Nutrition, and World icons.

Currently available is their game for English, which allows players to immerse themselves in Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ while deciphering complex themes and diverse characters through quests, quizzes, and mini games. Close to completion are:

Maths: A range of games where players can level-up by completing quests and quizzes, with different topics being unlocked as players process to higher ranks. Topics covered include algebra, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, money, time, decimals, and geometry.
Climate: Covers the causes of climate change and the actions required to mitigate it. Players will discover facts about the earth and its resources, nature, deforestation, water, oceans, weather, natural disasters, energy, fossil fuels, industrialisation, pollution, agriculture, consumption, health, pandemics, climate justice, and green industries.

In the works are games for history, science, art, and language & culture. Additionally, they are working on games for the 11+ & 13+ ISEB Common Entrance content that will utilise learning through play by including exploration, interaction, quizzes, and mini games. Also in development is 3D open world games for (I)GCSEs which are designed to spark the joy of learning through play and improving academic performance while reducing stress and anxiety.

In the middle of last year, they were selected as the winner of the 2025 Education & Training StartUp of the Year category at the London UK StartUp Awards. Historically, this award has gone to some big names like Monzo Bank, Deliveroo, Revolut, and Starling Bank.

Appearing in episode 13, season 22 of Dragon’s Den, Reedah El-Saie presented Brainspark Games to the Dragons. Her stated goal during her segment was to get £10,000 in funding for 1% equity of the company. Following her presentation on the game, she received three offers from three different dragons.

MyndPlay

Evolution: Venture

Fundraising: £100k equity investment in 2011 for a 7% stake

Grants: £168k grant awarded in 2015 by Horizon 2020.

Industries: Application software, Electronics hardware, Films and TV, Sensors, Video games

Buzzwords: Biometrics, Creative industries, Digital and technologies, Mobile apps, Retail biometrics, Virtual reality

MyndPlay are a leading brain technology company who have over 16 years of experience. Specialising in brain-powered experiential campaigns and research studios for top global brands and agencies, they have proven themselves as an innovator in EEG (electroencephalogram) and Emotional Tracking technology. Tre, MyndPlay’s CEO and an alternative therapist who has a passion for the mind, had a mission to develop a platform able to help prevent mental health issues by ensuring that mental health techniques are readily available at a lower cost and without the need for medication. The initial concept involved creating videos on a number of therapy techniques, using brain tech to identify what worked best during the session, and having the application adapt the video based on feedback received so that it shifted focus to the techniques which worked best. Despite the number of EEG Brainwave headsets on the market at the time, none were suited to their needs, so they started the process to make their own.

The MyndBand EEG headset is part of their flagship products. Users are able to interact with apps or connect to devices, such as robots and lights, by using their brainwaves. As the world’s first research grade customisable EEG Neurofeedback headset, it allows brainwaves to enter both the real and virtual world, with a direct integration into VR headsets. The headset has three dry sensors that attach to the user’s forehead, measuring their brainwave activity. Via Bluetooth, the information collected is transmitted to a digital device, like a computer, tablet or phone, so that users can actively see their brain activity, focus, relaxation, and mindfulness states in real-time.

The real benefit of such technology was revealed during a project with the prison services. Their CEO witnessed that the level of brain engagement was significantly higher when the incentive to play was there and that by playing emotionally charged video games, the player gained many of the benefits without the need for therapy. For the prison project, there was a 25-minute gangster movie where the viewer had to stay completely calm while facing blatant aggression in order to keep their character alive. This is how the MyndPlay video app system was created, where a range of simulations, from sports to dating, can be created. The intention of these simulations is to help the player overcome emotions and anxieties related to a variety of scenarios. They progressively add tension, controlled emotionally charged situations, and stress by using timers, movies, and gaming mechanics. Through this, the user is trained to desensitise themselves to stress levels and external emotional influence.

MyndPlay Sports are a collection of apps specifically aimed at athletes. An evaluation of US Olympic Archers proved that the use of EEG technology during training allowed the user to become more aware of their mental state so that they have more control over their attention and relaxation skills. As most sports have a visual, mental, or selective attention element, athletes are able to train themselves in developing a linear focus where they can block out any external factors that can affect their performance. The apps in MyndPlay Sports help in consistency in training and competition, ensuring peak performance. The media is entertaining while training the player in developing the attention and relaxation levels required to perform at their best in both real and virtual environments.

The previous year saw them taking the lead in several campaigns. The first was with Tanqueray No. TEN and their global project, ‘The Cocktail of Dreams’. This visionary project used MyndPlay’s state-of-the-art EEG technology to craft cocktail creations from dreams, delving into the subconscious set of preferences that differ greatly from the conscious ones. Using MyndPlay’s headsets, participants were exposed to different scents, including vanilla, mint, spices, and herbal tones, and sounds in both an awake and a relaxation state while their brainwaves were analysed into data. Tanqueray No. TEN’s global Tastemakers, a trio of award-winning bartenders, were able to translate these brainwave data-driven flavours profiles into one-of-a-kind cocktails using Diageo’s FlavorPrint technology.

MyndPlay also assisted in the regional launch of Ferrero Rocher and Raffaello Tablets in the GCC through an immersive exploration of the five senses. Participants had each sense tested with meticulously curated stimuli, with a private violin performance for sound, a golden skyline for sight, soft sand for touch, the rich aroma of oud for smell, and a curated coffee-tasting experience designed to wake up the palate. MyndPlay’s EEG device recorded precise pleasure points for each encounter. After these experiences, participants were introduced to a new and unexpected indulgence in the form of Ferrero Rocher and Raffaello Tablets while still having the EEG headsets on and while blindfolded. The findings revealed that the highest peak indulgence scores of any of the experiences were recorded with the Ferrero Rocher and Raffaello Tablets.

Working together, MyndPlay and Wyeth Nutrition, have created the Gifted Brain Viualiser, based on Promil’s Gifted Brain Room. The visualiser, made for children aged between three and seven, is a brainwave monitor that measures electrical brainwave activity and then transmits it to a tablet which translates this activity into insights about the child’s brain development. By focusing on the four key areas of focus, memory, language, and problem-solving, children are able to explore their potential in a fun and stimulating environment.

Wales Interactive

Evolution: Growth

Grants:

£522k grant awarded in 2022 by Innovate UK.
£850k grant awarded in 2025 by Games Scale Up Fund for Wales.

Industries: Video games

Buzzwords: Creative industries

Wales Interactive is a multi-award-winning indie video games, interactive movie developer, and publisher located in Penarth, founded in 2012 by a founding team of two. Included in said founding team is Dr David Banner MBE (CEO) who is a multi-award-winning video games artist, designer, producer, director, and entrepreneur. He has a long list of achievements, being a three-time BAFTA Cymru winner, receiving the St David Award for Enterprise (which is the highest honour the Welsh Government can bestow on a Welsh citizen) for establishing the Games Industry in Wales and the subsequent positive impact on the Welsh economy, was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2018 where he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for “services to the video games industry”, and, in 2020, was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of Technology from De Montfort University to recognise his achievements made during his video games industry career. Richard Price (Director), multi-award-winning film and computer games director, is the other half of the founding team. More than a decade ago, he started his career within the entertainment arena, having a diverse range of roles in games and television.

Wales Interactive are an indie game developer who create and fund their own original ideas exclusively from their studio in Wales, which they self-publish on multiple platforms worldwide, including Sker Ritual, Maid of Sker, Master Reboot, and more. They specialise in all areas of development including art, design, writing, programming, music, and Quality Assurance, and are official developers for gaming platforms PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox, PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and VR platforms. In addition to creating their own in-house titles, they are a publishing label that collaborates with some of the most talented game developers and film makers worldwide to assist them in bringing their original creations to gaming platforms with their offering of a complete range of publishing expertise, which encompasses PR, marketing, localisation, and sales. They are also established as one of the driving forces behind the revitalisation of the Full Motion Video (FMV) genre due to the success of their interactive movie portfolio.

We have selected a few of their games to look at it more detail. Winner of the 2025 Heritage in Games award at TIGA Awards, Maid of Sker, a first-person survival horror, is set in 1898 at a remote hotel that has a gory and macabre history from Welsh folklore. This game is inspired by the haunting Welsh tale of Elisabeth Williams, where a family empire is driven by torture, slavery, piracy, and a supernatural mystery encompasses the hotel grounds. Players are armed with only a defensive sound device and will have to use stealth tactics to avoid death by a cult of sound-based AI enemies. The main features of the game are:

The core survival mechanic being based on a 3D sound-based AI system.
Realistic visuals.
With a dynamic environment sound feature, enemies are alerted via a nudge system when the player bumps into objects.
A Welsh folklore inspire story that combines psychological, gothic, and British horror.
From the voice of Tia Kalmaru, famous Welsh hymns Calon Lân (A Pure Heart), Suo-Gân (Welsh Lullaby) and Ar Hyd Y Nos (All Through the Night) are re-imagined.

Sker Ritual, a spin-off based on Maid of Sker’s ‘evil’ ending, is an intense, round-based, zombie horror, first person shooter. Set in the year 1914, where Elisabeth Williams is now seeking domination with a broadcast of the Siren’s Song after conquering Sker Island. Players join her daughter’s Arianwen’s mission to stop the broadcast and save the world from descending into hell. Choosing between solo play or teaming up with up-to four players online, players will be faced with relentless waves of Quiet Ones as they try to solve mysterious missions, uncover Easter Eggs, upgrade steampunk weapons, and obtain Miracles, which are a large network of Celtic God powers.

Announced early last year was their partnership with Ant Workshop, a team of developers based in Scotland. They worked together to bring the rougelike deckbuilder inspired by Scottish folklore, myths and legends, named Into the Restless Ruins, to PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch, with the game officially launching during May of the same year. The game blends strategic deckbuilding with dungeon crawling to offer players an experience where they create their own dungeon to auto-battle through by using a deck of cards. Each card has the ability to shape the dungeon’s layout, add buffs or curses, and affect the outcome of each run. Included in the game is 116 cards across seven categories, six distinct ruins and 62 creatures to face, with six bosses. As players progress, the strategies needed to succeed will become more complex as new relics, card synergies, and meta-progression get introduced. They will also discover 40 passive charms, 38 cantrips and 12 weapons.

The companies will be collaborating on another game this year titled Into the Slimy Mines, a tower defence game with a card twist, set to release in May 2026. The game starts with the player crash landing their mining vessel and losing their crew on a slime infested moon. Players will have to rescue their crew and return their ore filled cargo by buying cards and booster packs, expanding their tunnels, and squishing slimes.

Game Academy

Evolution: Seed

Fundraising: Equity investment of an unknown amount in 2019. Investors included Zinc VC.

Industries: Courses and educational material, Human resources, Recruitment, headhunting and talent management, Video games

Buzzwords: Creative industries, Gamification, Professional and business services

Game Academy is on a mission to support gamers into new careers by capitalising on the skills they have developed from playing games. They were founded in 2019 by a team of gamers who were working in various industries, such as creative, education, HR, games, and quantum technology. They were led by their CEO, David Barrie who has founded five social ventures over the past two decades including food co-operatives, angel investment network, and award-winning urban regeneration projects. Alongside this work, he has had a career in media where he has produced over 200 hours of documentary and factual television for the BBC, Channel 4, CNN, and National Geographic as well as writing for the Guardian, New Statesman, and leading design and fashion publications.

Powered by leading-edge research and technology, Game Academy have looked at the games, skills and careers of over 50,000 players. By analysing the top 500 games on Steam, they have made links between players’ skills and the careers that require them. Since their incorporation, they have featured professional from studios such as SUMO Digital, Creative Assembly, and Team 17 on their courses and have connected their learners with funding opportunities from government agencies, colleges, private companies, and more.

Currently, the number of young people either at risk or not in employment, education, or training is increasing. But, with 75% of job adverts now citing a need for basic digital skills and 90% of those aged between 18-24 report playing video games, Game Academy saw an opportunity. They noticed something that a lot of people overlook, namely that many skills used in gaming, such as teamwork, resilience, decision making, and creativity, are essential to digital economies, software engineering, e-commerce, and the creative industries.

For gamers, they offer free online career-focused courses that help gamers to translate their game skills into roles in digital industries, analyse their games statistics using AI tools to reveal their career potential, host special online session where they enhance their skills and connect with industry professionals, and help them in connecting with a mentor or coach who can support and guide them on their career journey. Their courses have an over 90% completion rate, with 97% of participants reporting that they developed new skills and acquired new knowledge. Over half have said that working with Game Academy improved their mental health.

Last year, they celebrated their third year of Digital Skills Bootcamps in partnership with Ascento Learning and Development. This initiative, which first launched in 2023, helps to guide video game players into the working world through guided learning and skill-building projects. Since its launched, 94% of the over 600 participants have completed the course, more than 90% have said they are satisfied with the course content, 65% have progressed to a new job or training, and over 50% have seen an improvement in their mental health. These bootcamps last six or seven weeks and are deigned to give a comprehensive introduction to the gaming industry by teaching attendees about the lifecycle of a game’s production. A range of industry experts, from indie to AAA studios, take the lead in sessions to deliver the curriculum. At the end of the bootcamp, each participant is guaranteed an interview with a games company who are looking to fill their vacancies, looking to see what talent is currently available, or to offer mentoring services. To date, over 40 games design studio, from large studios to young start-ups, have been a part of the Bootcamps, including Team 17, Creative Assembly, Splash Damage, Huey Games, and SUMO Digital.

Game Academy have continued to work with local authorities, colleges, and schools in providing career advice and work experience to video game players who are aged over 14-years-old. Following their first programme with Speakers for Schools, they received funding from the Department of Education, Combined Authorities, and local authorities to deliver programmes that run from five days to six weeks across the UK. One of their goals is to have professionals from business and industry, such as Sumo Group, the NHS, and NCC Group, to inspire learners to think about and develop their in-game skills in the real world. During the bootcamps, each day is assigned a key theme, with industry talks, personal development sessions, and industry-set tasks.

Since the Spring of 2023, Games Academy have been supporting groups of video game players who are studying for the NCFE Level 2 Technical Award in Interactive Media at Oakwood Academy, a specialist visual arts, technology, and sports college for young people with moderate and complex learning needs. The programmes that Game Academy have designed, with support from the charity Career Connect, are based on their successful Bootcamps. They help the students to identify and develop their transferable skills and introduce the games industry. Through five 90 minute sessions spread across three weeks, students will dive into the transferable skills that they have thanks to their video game play, get advice from professionals on how to enter the games industry, and have the chance to share their own games, the games art they have created, and their ambitions, whether they be to enter the industry or launch their own independent games studio.

Avantis Education

Evolution: Established

Fundraising: £4.25m equity investment by Key Capital Partners in 2020.

Industries: Application software, Courses and educational material, Electronics hardware, Schools, Video games

Buzzwords: Augmented reality, Creative industries, Digital and technologies, EdTech, Virtual reality

Avantis Education, located in Gloucester and founded by Nik Tuson in 2007, is on a mission to inspire the way people learn by providing innovative educational solutions. By using technology innovation and immersive experiences, they aim to inspire imagination, foster curiosity, and enhance engagement. They have on offer a comprehensive range of award-winning innovative products made exclusively for education, which work with teachers and students in harmony to simplify classroom technology. They have reached over 90 countries, 200,000 classrooms, and two million students.

They have three main products:

ClassVR: A standalone VR headset that has a unique student-friendly interface, educational VR & AR embedded, including curriculum-aligned content and resources, and teacher controls that are simple-to-use. It has been designed to help increase engagement and knowledge retentions, no matter the student’s age, while also ensuring that the interface and teacher portal are easy to use.
Eduverse: An engaging online environment that allows students and teachers to explore experiences together, safely, and inclusively. With hundreds of resources, student can meet, collaborate, and learn in engaging virtual spaces from any web-enabled device. Eduverse encompasses:
- Expeditions 360: A collection containing over 700 high-quality 360^ophotos, videos, and 3D models, along with teaching notes and student information, on topics ranging from animals to arts and from world culture to well-being.
- Avantis World: Involves four educational ‘lands’ that each contain hundreds of educational scenes alongside teaching notes, and, for the students, instructions, quizzes, and assignments.
- Eduversity: Provides students with access to a virtual school building that has all of the associated rooms and spaces that they can explore and discover, including science, modern foreign languages, music, drama, sports, and SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities).
- World events: This is a collection containing Eduverse’s explorable scenes which feature cultural, religious, and sporting events and locations.
LearnPad: These tablets have been specifically designed for the classroom, with simplicity in mind. Through the intuitive and easy-to-use product available on the LearnPad, teachers are able to spend more time teaching as time is freed up from having to manage technology. Each comes with a range of free Tools and Apps that facilitate creative teaching and learning, including Annotate, Notes, Author Book Creator, Animator, eBook Reader, Presenter, and LearnPad’s Office Suite.

At the 2025 Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC), held on 14-17 January, Avantis Education showcased their latest innovation, Eduverse+, designed to enhance their ClassVR headsets. It has four new content suits that are designed to empower educators to transform classroom learning by using resources aimed at boosting student engagement, deepening their understanding and transforming learning into something more interactive and memorable. These four content suites are:

EduverseAI: By using AI-powered content generation, educators can create personalised learning journeys for their students where they can explore and engage in customised virtual worlds.
WildWorld: Allows for students to explore the natural world through immersive 360° wildlife videos, narrated films, and ‘wild fact’ resources that have been endorsed by leading conservationists.
STEAM3D: Provides over 1,100 lifelike 3D models from microscopic biological structures to interactive simulations to aide in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education.
CareerHub: VR-powered career exploration that allows students to experience real-world careers through 360° VR videos.

Further advancements to their offerings include improving their ClassVR hardware suite by launching two new headsets, both powered by high-performance Snapdragon® XR Platforms from Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.:

Xcelerate: Made specifically for high school and further education, this headset provides full spatial movement for hands-on VR learning. It does so through its delivery of six-degrees-of-freedom head and controller tracking as well as a 90° flip visor for seamless transitions between learning and in-person collaboration. Through its advanced four-camera spatial tracking system, precision is increased, and a boundary safety system is provided, allowing for teachers to easily bring VR/AR experiences into the classroom.
Xplorer: A next-gen headset for K-12 students that has been developed in response to the increased demand for more advanced and sophisticated VR/AR experiences. The headset has a new 4K Ultra-HD display, upgraded LCD screen, and enhanced audio.

Over the past year, they have had several partnerships, including:

The Allentown School District in eastern Pennsylvania selected ClassVR in order to work towards one of their 2030 Strategic Plan’s key priorities, which is to further universal access to technology and to prepare all students for success in the digital world. They have invested in 1,150 headsets, distributed across 66 XR environments, which will be available to over 17,000 students across 24 schools. Teachers have been provided with training so that they can smoothly integrate ClassVR into their lessons.
Avantis Education entered into a strategic partnership with Digital Schoolhouse, a not-for-profit that transforms computing education through play, in June 2025 in order to equip UK educators with hands-on experiences of VR for learning. By expanding Digital Schoolhouse’s ability to deliver VR workshops to UK schools, colleges and universities, they will assist educators at any level to explore how immersive technology can enrich learning and improve opportunities for students. It is expected that in the first year alone they will reach 2,500 students and 200 teachers.
In partnership with the Government of the British Virgin Islands and Unite BVI, an education-focused non-profit supporting national learning initiatives, they are launching a new ClassVR pilot in the Caribbean through a 12-week initiative. Teachers will be provided with structured onboarding and ongoing support through online sessions, in-person training, and regular virtual check-ins. Feedback will be gathered from students and teachers to measure engagement, motivation, and early indicators of learning progress. This will then be used to inform plans for a wider national rollout, currently planned for Spring of this year.

Speech Graphics

Evolution: Growth

Fundraisings:

£1.41m verified equity investment in 2018 for a 19%. Disclosed investors include Archangels, Par Equity, and Scottish Co-Investment Fund.
£560k equity investment in 2019 for a 5.9% stake. Investors include Archangels, Par Equity, and Scottish Co-Investment Fund.
£1.7m equity investment in 2020 for a 14.5% stake. Investors include Archangels, Par Equity as well as management participation.
£240k equity and loan investment by Early Stage Growth Challenge Fund in 2020 for a 1.2% stake.
£5.27m equity investment in 2022 for a 22.1% stake. Disclosed investors include Archangels, Par Equity, Sands Capital, and Scottish Co-Investment Fund.
£3.36m equity investment in 2025 for a 4.7% stake. Investors include Archangels, Global Ventures, Par Equity, and Scottish Co-Investment Fund.
£6.38m equity investment in 2026 for a 22.3% stake.

Grants:

£68.0k grant awarded in 2011 by SMART Scotland: Research and Development Projects.
£100k grant awarded in 2013 by SMART Scotland: Research and Development Projects.
£75k grant awarded in 2022 by Innovate UK.
Awarded a grant of an undisclosed amount in 2023 by Epic MegaGrant (Epic Games).

Industries: Application software, Graphic design, Video games

Buzzwords: Creative industries, Digital and technologies

Spinning out of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Informatics in 2010, Speech Graphics, who remained in Edinburgh, are delivering pioneering facial animation technology to the entertainment industry, with their client base including the likes of Warner Brothers and Def Jam Recordings.

Co-founder and CEO, Gregor Hofer, holds a PhD in Informatics from the University of Edinburgh and was a research fellow at the University’s School of Informatics. He successfully commercialised a text-to-speech protype at his previous role as a senior researcher at the Telecommunications Research Centre in Vienna, which is now powering several government webpages. Alongside his full-time role at Speech Graphics, he is a Supervisory Board member at System Industrie Electronic Holding AG. Michael Berger, co-founder and CTO, has been a pioneering expert in the field of speech animation since 1995. Along with being a linguist, speech scientist, and software engineer, he helped to develop the first automated talking head, co-authored a book on the subject, and went on to develop state-of-the-art techniques in realistic synthesis of facial dynamics from audio. He has also founded a speech animation research business in the US.

Speech Graphics specialise in automatic, accurate lip sync, considered one of the holy grails of computer facial animation. Their main offerings are:

SGX: The multi-award-winning procedural animation software was built from over 20 years of research and development in speech technology, linguistics, AI, and procedural facial dynamics. The software, by using anatomically based muscle-dynamic simulations, produces highly accurate lip sync and natural nonverbal behaviours like head motions, blinks, emotional expressions, breathing, and eye darts. As it is rig-agnostic, it is able to support any 3D rig, art style, or creature, and can animate any language. Already on offer are language modules for 14 major languages and dialects which ensure optimal pronunciation quality.
SGX Studio: A group of plugins for SGX that handle character setup, muscle definition, and expressions for consistent behaviour. It also allows for SGX to export to any DCC tool or engine and has direct plugins for Maya and Unreal Engine.
SGX Runtime: Coming in Q2 2026, SGX Runtime will help to bring facial animation to life by making the compression, storage, and playback of SGX animation reliable, fast, and simple. Built on FaceFX Runtime technology, it has a powerful complier, that is run from the command line, capable of transforming the format of SGX event files into one that is lightweight, optimised, and ready for in-game use.

Outside of their main offerings is their sister company Rapport. Built on Speech Graphics’ audio-driven animation technology, they are an interactive AI avatar platform that delivers expressive, full-body animation for live, interactive experiences. Supporting both cloud and on-prem deployments, it has seamless integration with 3D environments, LLMs, and enterprise platforms. Rapport Runtime SDK is an optional add-on available within custom enterprise packages for clients requiring deeper technical integration with real-time control and advanced system interoperability.

Through the course of 2025, they released two major SGX updates, SGX 4.4 and SGX 4.5. The first of the two updates introduced the animation styles function which provides animations with the choice between three interpolation options, namely Ease, Linear, and Stepped. All three deliver exceptional precision and creative control, whether it is for smooth cinematic realism or sharp anime-style cuts. The second update brought a major advancement in character setup efficiency with it making setup training-free by eliminating the neural network training step. By combining smaller character control files with their new Closures Editor, which finetunes lip sync details, workflow is now faster and more powerful. Additionally, this update implemented a new import mode which keys Unreal Engine’s Animation Pose Assets. Through the Key Muscle Deltas function converting SGX muscle displacements to PoseAssets, animators are given complete visibility into the animation structure.

Along with the SGX updates, they released major updates for three language modules, Mandarin 2.1, Korean 2.0, and French 1.3, in order to deliver significant advances in how the linguistic features unique to each language are processed. The result of these updates is lip sync accuracy that is able to rival hand-keyed animation while being delivered at a fraction of the time and cost.

In the latter half of last year, they acquired OC3 Entertainment, known for their FaceFX animation studio, in a strategic move to put them in a position where they can better serve the market by offering an expanded range of cutting-edge, innovate, and proven solutions. As part of the acquisition, FaceFX’s user base was absorbed into the Speech Graphics ecosystem and the CTO and co-founder of OC3 Entertainment, Jamie Redmond, joined Speech Graphics’ team to continue his work in developing and supporting FaceFX products as well as applying his expertise to Speech Graphics’ own products.

Their second acquisition of last year was Aquifer Motion, the AI-powered animation platform favoured by top entertainment brands around the world, for their sister company, Rapport. By combining its real-time facial animation with Aquifer Motion’s full-body performance and cinematic camera tools, they have expanded their offerings to include a comprehensive solution for creating avatars that come alive on screen.

Throughout last year, the leading AAA studios continued to put their trust in Speech Graphics. Their technology has been used in major releases, such as Silent Hill F, Mafia: The Old Country, South of Midnight, Split Fiction, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Ghost of Yotei, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and Monster Hunter: Wilds.

Memory Lane Games

Evolution: Seed

Fundraising: £700k equity investment in 2021.

Grant: £80k awarded in 2023 by Longitude Prize Discovery Award.

Industries: Application software, Care homes, Healthcare products, toiletries and living aids, Video games

Buzzwords: Artificial Intelligence, Creative industries, Digital and technologies, Gamification, Mobile apps

With their Head Office in the Isle of Man, Memory Lane Games is the engagement app designed for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia. They were founded by a team of two in 2019 consisting of Bruce Elliot and Peter Quayle. Bruce Elliot (CEO) holds a twenty-year track record of building world-class, innovative eCommerce companies, and has driven a listed online payments start-up to 1 million users and $250m per year in revenues. In addition, he has been the lead on marketing, and product and business development for international online payments, gaming, venture capital, blockchain, and now digital health firms. Peter Quayle has spent more than 30 years in technology, specialising in applying computer science principles to IT projects and business opportunities. He is now the Project Manager at Games Global.

Memory Lane Games started by taking on the question ‘how can we make games that would help trigger happy memories and offer support to people affected by cognitive decline?” as a challenge. Their answer to this question came in the form of a set of app-based memory games on favourite topics and interests of the user. Their mission now is to improve the quality of life of those living with dementia, while also providing support for their carers and family members through accessible and localised digital health apps.

Their app, which promises to be frustration-free, contains games specifically designed to stimulate visual reasoning, memory, and the speech centres of the brain. The aim of playing the games is to trigger positive memories, conversations, and reminiscence and to invoke a calming, settling, and reassuring effect for the player of the games. Features and benefits of the app include:

A library containing thousands of games.
Able to successfully address wandering and sundowing, which refers to the increased confusion, agitation, and behavioural changes in individuals with dementia that often happen during late afternoon and early evening hours.
Stimulates the speech and language centres of the brain.
Reduces agitation and repetitive behaviours.
Incites engagement with their interests.
There are no time-limits or scoring within the games.
Offline play is available once games are downloaded.

Last year saw them win several awards including the Prestigious AI Inclusion Award at the 2025 Impact Awards in recognition of their dedication to making a real difference in people’s lives by utilising technology for dementia care and cognitive engagement. They went on to win the People’s Choice Award at Inventures 2025 Global Brain Health Challenge. Additionally, their CEO, Bruce Elliot, was named the 2025 John Hopper Impact Award Winner.

Announced late last year was their strategic partnership with PocketRN, who are a leader in virtual nursing, where they will be contributing to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) GUIDE Model. Launched at the beginning of July 2024, the GUIDE Model is a new approach to supporting families affected by dementia through methods like comprehensive, person-centred assessments and care plans, 24/7 access to a trained care team member, care coordination, a care navigator who assists families in finding both clinical and community-based support, and respite services so that carers can take breaks. Across the US, nearly 400 organisations are joining forces to test new ways of delivering care so that people living with dementia have access to compassionate services and that caregivers receive the support they need to keep going. Their partnership for this programme aims to blend clinical expertise with daily, practical support with PocketRN’s Nurse for Life providing dedicated, trusted nurses who guide families through the complexities of dementia care and Memory Lane Games provides the engaging digital tools.

NVIDIA: The blurring of video games and AI

NVIDIA began in 1993 as a graphics processing company with a vision of bringing 3D graphics to the gaming and multimedia markets. Their initial goal was to design a chip (or more specifically, a graphics processing unit (GPU), which is a specialized electronic circuit) able to facilitate realistic 3D graphics on personal computers. NVIDIA would change course in later years, when their focus became designing and building chips for accelerated computing, as they are able to quickly process vast amounts of data for generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is AI able to produce new content and ideas as well as use its pre-existing knowledge to solve problems.

In the present, NVIDIA’s hardware and software, often referred to as “the AI factories of the future”, is used by any company that is linked to AI development. They also played a major part in the creation of ChatGPT, OpenAI’s chatbot, which is one of the most well-known generative AI engines.

For data centres, GPUs are deployed to augment CPU (Central Processing Unit) capabilities by bringing in additional computing horsepower, assisting in meeting rising requirements for heightened computational demands. Without the use of a high-performance GPU, the majority of technologies and applications used today can encounter excessively long loading times, performances issues, or could cease to function entirely.

Despite CPUs and GPUs both being silicon-based microprocessors able to handle data, they excel in different tasks. CPUs are most suitable for workloads and applications where the critical concerns are latency or per-core performance. They are able to focus a smaller number of cores on completing individual tasks quickly, making them most suited for jobs like handling databases and executing serial computing tasks.

GPUs started as specialised Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), with the main goal of accelerating specific 3D rendering tasks. As time progressed, these fixed-function engines became more programmable as well as flexible. GPUs evolved from their common use of gaming to be more general-purpose parallel processors in data centres, able to handle the increasing range of applications and support demanding use cases. In comparison to CPUs’ smaller offering of cores, GPUs offer thousands, which makes them more suited to support parallel operations. Due to these reasons, GPUs are now widely adopted for use in both on-premises and cloud data centre environments.

Oftentimes, GPUs are virtualised to allow for more flexibility and efficiency. NVIDIA released its virtual GPU (vGPU) in 2013, allowing a data centre GPU to be shared across multiple virtual machines, improving performance for applications and desktops. It also facilitated organisations in building their own virtual desktop infrastructures (VDIs).

NVIDIA is an example of how technologies originally geared towards the video games market can have applications outside of its original purpose. However, as their focus has pivoted away from the video games market, NVIDIA, and companies like them, are not included in this report.

What services we offer video games companies

An accountant for gamers must have in-depth knowledge to understand how best to advise clients. Here at Price Bailey, we understand gamers and streamers needs, offering advice on:

Tax planning and preparation
Bookkeeping
Financial management
Virtual currency management
Budgeting and financial planning
Self assessment tax returns

We always recommend that you seek advice from a suitably qualified adviser before taking any action. The information in this article only serves as a guide and no responsibility for loss occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of this material can be accepted by the authors or the firm.

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