Liverpool video games developer Ripstone secures £600,000 in new funding as it looks to bring its ‘next big ideas’ to market. Tony McDonough reports

Video games developer Ripstone will develop a new pipeline of original titles after securing a £600,000 intellectual property-backed loan from NatWest.

Ripstone, based in Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter, has become the first UK gaming company to secure a loan from NatWest using its intellectual property as collateral. The business says it will use this cash to “bring its next big ideas to market”.

Since the company was founded in 2011 Ripstone’s creative team has produced 21 games, reaching an audience of 20m players worldwide. It has offered classic games such as chess, pool and poker, but also develops games based on its own original IP.

Ripstone plans to use the funding to invest in its pipeline of new projects, including the development of new IP as well as other classic games.

The firm employs 20 staff and has acquired a new office in Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter. This was supported by a mortgage from the Royal Bank of Scotland, part of NatWest Group. According to its last accounts Ripstone has net assets of £3m.

Earlier this year NatWest launched intellectual property backed lending to support innovative scale ups which lack tangible assets to access the finance they need to grow.

The bank partners with the specialist IP valuation firm Inngot to identify and value ‘intangible assets’ – such as patents, copyright and trademarks – which could be taken as security for loans.

Amy Wall, finance director at Ripstone, said: “As a games developer we place a really strong emphasis on having ideas heard and prototyping new games, so we’ll typically have at least three new projects on the go at any one time. 

“Video games can often take several years to develop, so you need a strong pipeline of funding to launch them and start to generate revenue.

“Our longstanding banking relationship with NatWest has been really important to enable us to leverage the value of our IP to secure finance.

“This loan will help the business to grow organically, allowing us to develop more original IP which gamers love, as well as providing the financial buffer to help us continue to produce the classic games like chess and pool for which we’re well known.”

NatWest has provided Ripstone with a specialist technology relationship director, Angela Moretta, who will offer additional support to the company.

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James Shelley, senior relationship manager at the bank, added: “Games are a serious business for Liverpool’s economy – employing lots of people in very good jobs that provide growth to the area.

“However, typical loans do not always meet the funding needs of games developers, which may lack tangible assets like bricks and mortar, but more than make up for that with valuable IP.”