GameSquare, the 'startup' for collectors and fan 'gamers'

They do not find negative connotations in the "freaky portal" rating; in fact, they define themselves as the "gamer and friki buying and selling app." "We believe that the future of collecting is in line with our project, and it is true that there are many fans," explains Gerard Jané, co-founder with Martín Simón, Pol Rodoreda, and Xavi Llordella of the GameSquare marketplace.

The startup, which began its journey in January 2021, wants to be a reference application for collecting in Spain and Europe, following the model of the American Whatnot, which has become a unicorn (an emerging company valued at over a billion). Initially, GameSquare started with video games, but currently they only represent 20% of the business, and what "sells most" are Funko pop figures (bobblehead dolls of cartoon, movie, series, or video game characters) and Pokémon cards and Magic cards.

With these four business verticals fully operational, the creators of GameSquare have ventured into live shopping activities ---the buying and selling of products with live broadcasts through social networks; in GameSquare's case, via Instagram---. "The impact has been very high," says Gerard Jané when explaining that since last January they have already held eight live streaming events, lasting one hour, and the average value of sales has been 750 euros. This is considering that a limited edition Funko pop can cost between 40 and 70 euros in stores, for example, Jané explains.

This type of activity attracts the interest of a very varied public, but while the user of the app for buying and selling a video game is a person between 30 and 35 years old with a certain purchasing power, in live shopping with a large offer of Funko pop, "many young people between 20 and 25 years old connect and close transactions, spending an average of 200 euros in this type of auction," says Jané.

The marketplace currently manages the inventory of 30 stores across Spain ---basically local establishments for video games and collectibles and other specialized ones like GameShop or GameXtore--- and expects to reach 60 by the end of the year. This inventory allows for about 15,000 products to be available on the platform and about 2,000 users making transactions.

To increase traffic, "we will develop the necessary technology to carry out live shopping from the platform itself and we will make it easier for stores to also place their offers directly in these auctions," specifies the co-founder. For this project, it will be necessary "perhaps, to open a new round of financing in the medium term, but it is not yet defined," he adds. For the moment, they have expanded the staff to seven people.

GameSquare's vision is to enable collectors, through the platform, to digitize their collection and know its value instantly without even having to upload the products to the marketplace, because "since we record demand and know the price people are willing to pay, it's easy to appraise all objects and know their price in the collecting market. It would be like appraising a painting or a jewel," mentions Jané.

GameSquare closed its first round of 100,000 euros in investment through the Startupxplore platform in November 2021. This diluted the founders' stake and allowed the entry of the gaming-specialized fund Awin Capital and several business angels such as Juan J. Mostazo, David Boronat, Sacha Fuentes (mentors of the SeedRocket accelerator), Rat Gasol (General Manager of Capital Cell), and Ramon Ollé.

Likewise, it has been one of the companies selected to join the Netmentora entrepreneurship network, which will accompany GameSquare in its expansion over the next two years.

Forgetting about haggling

Gerard Jané and Martín Simón created GameSquare because, as video game enthusiasts, they were tired of having to haggle when they wanted to make purchases or sales online and, subsequently, having to arrange shipping or close a meeting to carry out the exchange.

For this reason, GameSquare functions as a market with symmetrical information: people who sell know the price at which the demand from other people moves, and on the other hand, those who want to buy already know at what price they can get the item they are looking for. In fact, on the platform, the demand for any product can be registered, whether or not it is available on the marketplace, to make it easier for someone who decides to sell to know in advance who wants the product and how much they are willing to pay.

At the operational management level, all transactions are paid on the platform, with a 48-hour guarantee. GameSquare earns, on average, 7% on the price of each transaction.