Tech advice

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(L-R) Marcus Rowley, Rhys Birkinshaw, Alex Wilby

Corporate and Commercial team advises tech start up Yakkr on six figure pre-seed investment

Yakkr, an online platform, is all about connecting fans with their favourite celebrities, influencers and gamers in the pursuit of delivering premium gaming experiences. The idea for Yakkr was conceived by two former Durham University graduates, Marcus Rowley and Rhys Birkinshaw, who studied Finance and Computer Science respectively.

Whilst at university, Marcus was involved in two start-ups and Rhys in several, with one of these moving over to Silicon Valley. Swinburne Maddison was recommended to the two entrepreneurs by the Durham City Incubator (DCI).

Alex Wilby, a Partner in the Corporate and Commercial team advised them. tech sector gained with organisations like Land Tech, a Londonbased company that provides software to streamline the property development process, and the sale a year ago of Silent Games – a game design studio in Newcastle, which was acquired by Amplifier Game Invest AB, a subsidiary of the listed Swedish Embracer Group – Alex was well-suited to the task.

As he explains, Swinburne Maddison was delighted to have the opportunity to advise on the transaction and build on its solid experience of advising software companies on their terms, ‘software as a service’ agreements and IP matters. He said:

“We were introduced to Marcus and Rhys after they approached DCI for a recommendation. We have previously acted for numerous companies on the DCI programme, providing various levels of support.

“I regularly act for fund managers and investors, so I have experience of what both parties require. To do the work well, you need to have the legal experience to know where to focus your time and attention to keep costs under control whilst adding value for your client.”

Explaining the thinking behind Yakkr (slang for ‘have a chat’), Marcus said: “Although it is unlikely you would ever get the chance to play football with Messi, people may like to play a game against him on FIFA and pay for the experience. With the growth in demand for digital experiences since the start of the pandemic, fans want to engage with their favourite celebrities, influencers and gamers. Yakkr allows this to happen.

Swinburne Maddison was delighted to have the opportunity to advise on the transaction and build on its solid experience of advising software companies on their terms, ‘software as a service’ agreements and IP matters.

How the Durham City Incubator is helping ambitious new businesses owners and entrepreneurs to achieve their potential

An interview with Leon Howe, DCI Incubation Manager

Tell us more about the Durham City Incubator (DCI)

Durham City Incubator (DCI) is an ERDF funded, collaborative partnership between Business Durham (Durham County Council), Durham University and New College Durham. We provide an intensive 6-month programme designed to challenge and develop new entrepreneurs and offer a range of support including workshops, one-to-one coaching, introductions to new networks, financial assistance and low-cost shared workspace.

Who can use the DCI?

DCI supports high growth potential businesses, trading under 12 months. Businesses must be based in County Durham and have ambitions to grow and create jobs. DCI is open to any ambitious business owners in Durham with the vision to scale up their business and particularly encourages undergraduate / post graduate talent from Durham University and New College Durham to apply.

What trends/sectors do you see emerging?

DCI is not sector specific; however, it encourages businesses from professional services, IT and the digital & technology sector, and we have seen emerging trends in these areas. GreenTech and FinTech are also emerging sectors with many of the DCI businesses focusing on environmental impact and ways in which their business could solve a problem for the greater good, for example by reducing food waste, tackling climate change or working towards a low carbon economy. Furthermore, the emergence of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning using tech is becoming more prominent as a solution. Overall, many of the businesses have identified certain UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a problem and then worked on a solution to contribute to prosperity for people and the planet.

What is the best advice you could give to start-ups?

As a starting point, focus on a real problem, perhaps consider UN SDGs and go from there. Understand who your customers are and how you can provide a solution for them; this is critical to your success. Seek advice and support. There’s lots of help, not just DCI.

Finally, don’t fear failure. If, by talking to customers, you find your solution isn’t the answer then change it or move on to something new. There’s no point in trying to make something work if it doesn’t help your customers. Not every business will succeed but you’ll learn quickly from starting any business and this will provide you with more knowledge, experience, and contacts for your next venture.

When is the next deadline for applications?

DCI runs two Cohorts (programmes) per year. January to June and July to December. You can apply at any time via DCI website https://dcincubator.co.uk/ The next cohort closing date will be mid November 2022, for Cohort 9, to start in January 2023.

“The creator schedules their availability along with the game they are playing and the price per slot; the fan purchases a space in the session they want to join and then when the time comes, they jump into a Yakkr session and it’s game on!”

The investment - which gives Yakkr a valuation in excess of £2 million - has been provided by Athena Venture Capital backed by TwinklHive who predominantly invest in the ed-tech sector. Rhys explains:

“We were introduced to TwinklHive by Durham University. Although obviously, we’re not in the Ed-Tech sector, we submitted our pitch deck for Yakkr anyway in the hope of speaking to potential investors. It worked.”

The company is currently at pre-revenue stage and the money will be used to fund the creation of the business and the Yakkr platform. Prior to receiving the investment Marcus was working for one of the Big Four accounting firms and Rhys was working as lead developer for a start-up in the commodities industry, so the Twinklhive investment has enabled them both to go full time in Yakkr, along with employing an additional front-end developer. It will also be used to build partnerships with E-sport teams and content creators.

The plan is to release Yakkr in Spring 2022 with the core functionalities available for users. After its release, Yakkr will look to expand these functionalities to make it the go-to platform for gaming experiences globally.