The Great Journey

What The Great Journey does

The Great Journey is a non-profit business incubator, workspace, and community for game developers based in Karlstad, Sweden, founded in 2016 and operating from Karlstad Innovation Park. It serves indie game developers, students, and early-stage game studios in the Värmland region, offering a tiered program stack: The Great Incubator (startup support and coaching), The Great Catapult (a 12-month accelerator with local seed fund access), The Great Internship (for students transitioning into entrepreneurship), and the newer Fasttrack accelerator. Shared workspace, business coaching from staff with 15+ years of industry experience, and a calendar of community events — anchored by The Great Summer Pitch — round out the offering. The organization is a community-driven, B2B-style service provider rather than a technology company, with no proprietary software or platform technology beyond community and event infrastructure.

The entity is structured as a non-profit initiative and does not generate commercial revenue; it is funded by the Gamechanger project, which draws on the European Union Regional Development Fund, Region Värmland, Karlstad Innovation Park, and Embracer Group (Europe's largest games company, headquartered in Karlstad). Programs and services are provided on a subsidized basis, with go-to-market driven by direct applications, educational partnerships with Futuregames, Kristinehamns folkhögskola, and Karlstad University, plus community outreach via Discord, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Investors and publishers (including Raw Fury, Behold Ventures, and SAGAS VC) participate as pitch jury members and event sponsors, while founders receive mentorship, workspace, and access to seed funding.

Documented outcomes include 25 game studios started in Värmland, multiple Steam releases by portfolio studios (Heavy Metal Death Can, Bonsai '98, Lilium Reach), and pitch prizes of 100,000 SEK and 25,000 SEK at the 2026 summer event. In September 2025, The Great Journey joined the SCORE national Swedish game accelerator consortium alongside Sweden Game Arena, Game Habitat Malmö, Arctic Game, and Gameport Karlshamn, co-funded by the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth with a SEK 13.4 million budget. The expansion signals a deliberate move from a regional to a national mandate, with a published report calling for a state-appointed National Coordinator for Sweden's games industry based in Karlstad.

Name

The Great Journey

Legal name

The Great Journey

Website

https://thegreatjourney.se

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Great Journey is a non-profit business incubator, workspace, and community for indie game developers in Värmland, Sweden, offering startup programs, a 12-month accelerator with seed funding, coaching, and pitch events connecting studios with publishers and investors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Karlstad

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Non-profit funding: The Great Journey is a non-profit organization funded by project Gamechanger, which is funded by the European Union Regional Development Fund, Region Värmland, Karlstad Innovation Park and Embracer Group.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Great Journey is a non-profit business incubator and community hub that provides startup support programs (The Great Incubator), a 12-month accelerator with seed funding access (The Great Catapult), a student-to-entrepreneur internship (The Great Internship), shared workspace, and business coaching for indie game developers and entrepreneurs in Värmland, Sweden. It complements these programs with community events such as the annual Great Summer Pitch competition, Friday Stories talks, and Lunch Talks, connecting developers with publishers, investors, and industry professionals.

Product overview

The Great Journey is a business incubator, workspace, and community accelerator for game developers and entrepreneurs in Värmland, Sweden. The organization offers a portfolio of programs including The Great Incubator for startup support, The Great Catapult as a 12-month accelerator with seed funding, and The Great Internship for students transitioning to entrepreneurship. Additional services include business coaching from industry veterans, shared workspace access in Karlstad, and a calendar of community events including The Great Summer Pitch (an annual pitch competition), Friday Stories talks, and Lunch Talks. The offering functions as a unified ecosystem supporting game developers at every stage—from developing projects to starting studios and releasing games—with coaching, workspace, community events, and industry connections as the core service pillars.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Great Incubator Start-up program for game studios providing support and resources for company growth, including game and business coaching, access to the game hub and workspace, industry fair applications, community events, and peer and industry guidance.
• The Great Catapult 12-month runway accelerator for game studios including access to local seed fund, game and business coaching, network of publishers and investors, DEMO stations at industry fairs, and access to game hub, workspace, and equipment.
• The Great Internship Full-time internship for ambitious students transitioning from education to entrepreneurship, providing resources and support to develop original game projects with the goal of launching an independent game studio.
• Workspace Access Shared game development hub providing workspace for game developers and entrepreneurs in Karlstad, fostering collaboration with other devs in a tight-knit community.

Quantifiable outcome

• 230+ attendees from 56 companies at The Great Summer Pitch 2026
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Raw FuryminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 22 June 2026Game publisher sponsoring The Great Summer Pitch 2026 and announcing the Best Pitch winner.
• LurkitminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 22 June 2026Gaming platform sponsor for The Great Summer Pitch 2026, providing license worth 30,000 SEK as prize.
• NorthifyminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 22 June 2026QA support provider sponsoring The Great Summer Pitch 2026 with 40,000 SEK value QA support as prize.
• 8BitDominorGTM or Marketing Partner · 22 June 2026Gaming peripherals company sponsoring The Great Summer Pitch 2026 with keyboards and controllers.
• Game Outlet EuropeminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 22 June 2026Event sponsor for The Great Summer Pitch 2026.
• Sweden Game ArenacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Regional game cluster in Skövde and Gothenburg partnering in SCORE project for national Swedish accelerator program for game startups.
• Game Habitat (Malmö)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Regional game cluster in Malmö partnering in SCORE project for national Swedish game startup support.
• Arctic GamecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Regional game cluster in northern Sweden partnering in SCORE project for national Swedish game startup support.
• Gameport (Karlshamn)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2025Regional game cluster in Karlshamn partnering in SCORE project for national Swedish game startup support.
• Karlstad Innovation ParkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Great Journey is a non-profit initiative by Karlstad Innovation Park and Embracer Group. Located at Karlstad Innovation Park, right beside the university.
• FuturegamescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partner providing game development programs (Game Programmer, Game Artist, Experience Designer) in Karlstad. Ida Kristiansson serves as Head of Education.
• Kristinehamns folkhögskolacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partner offering Game Programmer and Indie Game Developer programs. Chris Rakkestad serves as teacher.
• Karlstad University (KAU)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional university partner providing educational connections and student pipeline for game development talent.
• IGDA SwedenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational Game Developers Association Swedish chapter, supporting the game development community.
• Safe In Our WorldminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMental health gaming charity partnership supporting wellbeing in the gaming community.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Stugan: Stugan was a Swedish game accelerator that hosted indie developers in a rural setting, closely mirroring The Great Journey's mission of supporting indie game studios in a Swedish regional context.
• Sweden Game Arena: Sweden Game Arena is a regional game cluster in Skövde/Gothenburg that runs accelerator and community programs for game startups—directly comparable as both a SCORE partner and a Swedish game incubator peer.
• Game Habitat: Game Habitat is a game cluster in Malmö offering incubation, community, and acceleration services to indie studios; directly comparable as a Swedish regional game incubator and SCORE partner.
• Gameport: Gameport is a regional game cluster in Karlshamn that supports indie studios with incubation, networking, and funding; directly comparable as a Swedish regional game incubator and SCORE partner.
• Arctic Game: Arctic Game is a northern Sweden game cluster providing workspace, funding, and community for game developers; directly comparable as a Swedish regional game incubator and SCORE partner.

Emerging players

• Raw Fury: Raw Fury is a Stockholm-based indie game publisher that sponsors The Great Summer Pitch; comparable as a downstream publishing partner that indie studios in the same ecosystem target for commercialization.

Broad incumbents

• Antler: Antler is a global startup accelerator with a Nordic presence; comparable as a broader accelerator offering early-stage funding and mentorship, though not specialized in game development.
• Embracer Group: Embracer Group is Europe's largest games company headquartered in Karlstad and a core funder of The Great Journey; comparable as a large incumbent that both funds and provides publisher access to the same regional game studio pool.
• Nordisk Film Games: Nordisk Film Games is a Nordic games investor and developer with ties to the broader Nordic game ecosystem; comparable as a larger incumbent providing capital and publishing support to indie studios in the same Nordic market.

Others

• IGDA (International Game Developers Association): IGDA is the global game developer industry association whose Sweden chapter partners with The Great Journey; comparable as an ecosystem enabler supporting the same developer community rather than a direct incubator competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@TheGreatJourney
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-great-journey
• Xx.com/TheGr8journey
• Facebookfacebook.com/thegreatjourneysweden

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Great Journey