A prototype grant focused on the earliest stages of game development
From nothing to something, the Galaxy Fund is a prototype grant backing early stage experiments and bold new ideas from BIPOC and queer creators.
Galaxy Fund Goals
- $10K
🚀
Lift Off
Wholesome Games Community kicking us off with $10,000
- $25K
🔋
XP Boost
[LOCKED] Matching Contribution available at $20K
- $50k
🎉
Final Approach
[LOCKED] Matching contribution available at $45K
- $100K
🛰
Mission Complete
[Locked] Matching contribution available at $90K
- $150K
👩🚀
New Crewmates Incoming
[LOCKED] What could this be?!
About the Galaxy Fund
Equity begins at the leadership level and sometimes the initial barriers are the hardest to overcome.
The Galaxy Fund is a prototype grant awarded to ten exceptional artists each year. The grant has been designed to address a financing gap and given as unrestricted for each creator to use how they see fit for themselves and their studio such as staffing, hardware, coaching, legal fees, child-care, and therapy.
I’ve heard it all before, “…it’s too risky,” “the market is unproven,” or “talk to us when you’re closer to launch.” There’s always an excuse when pitching bold new ideas and early stage experiments — especially when it’s from BIPOC, women, and queer founders.”
Vela Recipients
Saffron Bolduc-Chiong
Art Director, Mighty Yell
Saffron Bolduc-Chiong is a Canadian artist and game developer based in Toronto. She has experience as an artist for video games, comics, illustration, and 2D/3D asset creation.
Bahiyya Khan
Game Designer, Writer and Filmmaker
Bahiyya Khan is a multiple award-winning South African game designer, writer, and filmmaker. Khan is most notably known for her IGF-winning FMV game, after HOURS, but more importantly, is the biggest My Chemical Romance fan.
Christina-Antoinette Neofotistou
Game Developer and Pixel Artist
Christina-Antoinette Neofotistou is a Greek illustrator, pixel artist, and game artist.
Star (Slide20XX)
Composer | Slide20XX, Games Without Words
Star “Power,” (aka, Slide20XX) is a composer who decided to write music for video games at the age of 13 and hasn’t stopped since. Their work has appeared in Against Gravity’s VR title “Rec Room,” a Princeton affiliated massively multiplayer neuroscience game named “EyeWire,” and crowd-controlled music-based video games designed and shown at the Red Bull Music Academy in Madrid, Spain and MIT’s festival of arts and technology, Hacking Arts. Most recently, they produced the soundtrack for Calico, a game about magical girls running a cat cafe, and music for a pair of anti-racism PSAs created by Cartoon Network series, Steven Universe. They also work as composer, sound designer, and creative director for their game company, Games Without Words.
Nareice Wint
Game Director & Art Director, Miami Avalon
Nareice Wint is the Game Director at Miami Avalon; their first title – Pandora: Chains of Chaos – released in 2020, development has now started on their new title: Ascend. Nareice was listed in MCVs “30 Under 30 (2020)” and named one of “GamesInudstry.biz’s 100 most influential women” in games.
Francesca Carletto-Leon
Founder & Game Developer at Compact
Francesca Carletto-Leon is an award winning game designer and educator whose work encompasses digital, tabletop, and alternative controller style projects. She holds an MFA in Game Design from New York University.
Emma Kidwell
Writer, Firaxis
Emma Kidwell is a writer and narrative designer who’s work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian, Game Developers of Color Expo, and Wordplay. Kidwell was listed as one of Forbes 30 under 30 for games in 2021 and has been profiled by the New York Times.
Jessinia Saunders
Founder at Jellyfish Parade
Jessinia Saunders is creating games by weaving dreams with written wefts. She’s a writer who specializes in romance and the creator of Celestia, PAIRS, and many more through her studio Jellyfish Parade.
Catherine Unger
Art Director
Catherine Unger is an Art Director / Illustrator based in the sunny town of London. She has spent the last 11+ years making art for a number of award winning games and has been previously named BAFTA Breakthrough, Ensemble and Apple’s Ones to Watch.
Shandiin Woodward
Co-Founder & Art Director at Subliminal
Shandiin is a Diné game developer and multidisciplinary designer from Albuquerque, NM. She Co-Founded Subliminal, where she spearheads her studio’s projects and crafts colorful worlds and characters. She has 10+ years experience in her artistic career and specializes in stylized game art and multimedia design.
Special thanks to the Creative Tech Alliance
The Creative Tech Alliance (CTA) is an arts organization dedicated to supporting creators working at the forefront of art and technology. Thanks to their work and partnership, the Galaxy Fund is a charitable and tax-deductible donation for all individual, studio, and foundation contributors.
How it works
Fund Distribution
Galaxy is crowdfunded then distributed in to parts, an initial sum to get started and the final portion upon completion. We ask that a prototype is completed within 18 months of initial distribution.
Review Period
The applications are reviewed between January-March of each year fiscal year. Creators are notified of their nomination and are asked to accept before announcement.
Reporting
Upon completion, creators must provide a link to their prototype and a brief written response about your process amounting to no more than 500 words. Creators have all ownership & IP rights.
Nominate Someone
We all know someone who makes the most stunning games, is exceptionally hard-working, and often goes unseen — heck, this person may even be you. Nominating someone takes less than 10 minutes and a $10,000 grant could change their life.
Like what’s going on here and want to contribute?
Individual
For as little as $1, you can contribute to the Galaxy Fund and be a part of awarding grants to game makers. Contribute now to the 2020 GoFundMe page, anything beyond $50,000 will be directed to the our 2021 raise.
Corporate Donor
A direct impact you can see in action, immediately. Your dollars go further when we work together. If you’d like to help us expand the amount of dollars granted annually or offer matching funds, we’d love to hear from you.
FAQs
What is a grant?
Grants are given — often by a public body, charitable foundation, or a specialised grant-making group (hey that’s us!). These grants are then awarded to another individual or entity for a public benefit or goals for social impact. The Galaxy grants are not a publishing, equity, or loan agreement.
Unlike loans, grants are not to be paid back and sole ownership is awarded to the creator.
A small note: since we launched Galaxy Fund, we’ve seen many others create “grants” with terms that look much more like a loan or royalty-based publishing agreement. Please be sure to talk to a legal representitive before signing!
How are recipients selected?
We review all of the materials submitted through the Google form. Right now it’s only me (Evva!) and I ask for a bit of time from staff at GLITCH who kindly donate their spare time to help me go through all of the applications.
I’m working towards establishing a review committee of previous recipients and community leaders. If you’re interested in being a part of it, please feel free to email at galaxy.prototypegrant at gmail dot com with the subject line “selection committee”
What if I don't complete my prototype in 18 months?
We get that life happens and expect recepients to keep an open line of communication with us.
You won’t need to return any funds if your project goes uncompleted but we won’t be able to award any remaining dollars without a completed prototype.
I'm a creator who wants to help fundraise on Tiltify!
YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU!
Here’s your Creator ToolKit with everything you need.
Inside you’ll find details about the fund and overlay assets for you to use while streaming. Let us know 5 days in advance when you go live at creativetechalliance at gmail dot com and we’ll get you nominated for a front page feature.