STARWARD
INDUSTRIES
COMPANY HISTORY
Starward Industries is led by Marek Markuszewski acting as Chief Executive Officer, the main shareholder, and the author behind the concept of
the studio's first video game.
Beforehand, Markuszewski had managed the Cracow branch of CD Projekt RED, which he co-founded, Markuszewski, as Senior Producer. Within a year after leaving the position, he managed to build a team of extremely talented and experienced game developers, obtained the license for adaptation of an outstanding Sci-Fi novel, and created the detailed business plan of the new venture.
In June 2018, Markuszewski raised the first round of financing from a group of individual investors, and began working on the action plan to establish the company structure and a long-term operational and financial plan. It led to incorporating the venture on September 10, 2018 as the joint-stock company. The company was registered on September 27, 2018, and in October of the same year, the company began production with a complete team on board.
COMPANY PROFILE
Starward Industries SA is an independent video game developer in the AA+ segment, focusing on producing and publishing videogames for personal computers and consoles, backed by a team with many years of experience in companies such as CD Projekt Red, Reality Pump or Techland.
The company is developing a first-person sci-fi thriller based on a novel by a famous Polish writer with global recognition and recorded book sales of tens of millions, Stanisław Lem. Starward Industries has signed up an exclusive license with Lem estate to adapt one of his novels as a videogame.
The aforementioned project uses the Unreal Engine technology provided by Epic Games, which supports all major hardware platforms, operating systems and video game consoles. This engine is being updated to support new technologies, staying in sync with the progressing trends in videogames development.
The company intends to build virtual worlds under umbrella brands, which will benefit from marketing efforts as supporting sales of not one title, but also the whole series of games under a shared brand. For promoting and marketing of the first game, the studio intends to use the platform related to a global recognition of Stanisław Lem as a renowned science fiction writer. This brand is going to open the door to existing fandom of the novel, and to opinion leaders and a range of specialist media and cultural, artistic and scientific institutions. Leveraging this reference, the studio will communicate their value offering via opinion leaders and influencers in professional and consumer segment, supported by a substantial cash budget to maximise the reach with intent to kickstart and support sales of the first game as soon as it’s been released.
The studio wants to build their unique proposition
and sustainable business model by adopting the
following strategic values:
-
creating interactive virtual worlds that stretch to several single product in various media, while based on compelling, engaging gameplay experience
-
high intellectual and emotional value resonating with the global culture, which in the case of the first game relates to the original, proprietary approach to the story licensed exclusively from the estate of one of the most renowned sci-fi writer, Stanisław Lem.
LEADERSHIP
MANAGEMENT BOARD
Maciej Dobrowolski
Board Member
CMO - posiada wieloletnie doświadczenie w działach sprzedaży międzynarodowych firm, agencjach reklamowych oraz działach marketingu, w których odpowiadał za strategie marek, ich komunikację rynkową oraz realizację zasięgowych kampanii wizerunkowych i sprzedażowych. Akcjonariusz spółek gamedev.
W zarządzie odpowiedzialny za kontakty handlowe, komunikację spółki, analizę rynkową i wspieranie prowadzenia produkcji.
Andrzej Szafraniec
Board Member
CFOO - od początku istnienia Starward Industries do momentu powołania do Zarządu pełniący rolę głównego doradcy prawnego Spółki (Chief Legal Officer). Posiada wieloletnie doświadczenie w doradztwie prawnym i zarządzaniu procesami prawnymi spółek z różnych branż, również z branży GameDev, w tym spółek publicznych. W spółkach z branży GameDev pełnił również funkcję Członka Rady Nadzorczej i Komitetu Audytu. W Starward Industries pełni obecnie funkcję Członka Zarządu odpowiedzialnego za kwestie finansowe i korporacyjne (Chief Financial & Operations Officer).
SUPERVISORY BOARD
Katarzyna Burek
Member
From 2012 Polish Certified Auditor and Member of ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants); from 2017 Fellow Member of this body. Graduate of the Warsaw School of Economics, faculty of Finance and Banking.
Subject matter expert in finance, accounting, financial reporting and audit with professional background from financial institutions. Managing Director of Finance and Accounting Department at Noble Securities S.A.
Previoulsy, director and manager in companies such as Generali Investments TFI S.A., Centralny Dom Maklerski Pekao S.A., Biuro Maklerskie Bank Pekao S.A. and KPMG Audyt Sp. z o. o. sp.k.
The member is not involved in entities nor is personally holding shares representing not less than 5% of the total number of votes at the Annual General Meeting of the Company.
Jerzy Feliński
Vice Chairman
Attorney at law, Partner at Lempart & Feliński Attorneys-at-Law. From 2010 member of the Krakow District Chamber of Legal Advisers.
Graduated with honors from the Master's Degree Program in Intellectual Property and New Technologies. His master's thesis was on the protection of intellectual property in video games.
A regular participant in the Games Industry Law Summit conference.
Graduate of the Jagiellonian University, faculty of Law (master's degree). Completed post-graduate studies in consumer protection law.
He has a certificate allowing him to represent his clients in European Courts. He acts as an attorney for foreign companies conducting their businesses in Poland.
Expert in intellectual and industrial property law, civil law, corporate and commercial law.
Experienced in providing legal services to entrepreneurs, individuals, partnerships, as well as in judicial proceedings and debt collection. Actively takes part in projects concerning tax optimization, ownership transformation and M&A transactions.
The member is not involved in entities nor is personally holding shares representing not less than5% of the total number of votes at the Annual General Meeting of the Company.
Bernard Gudowski
Member
Bernard is a director, head of post merger integration and separation at SIX Group, the operator of infrastructure for the Swiss and Spanish financial centers. He also serves as chairman of the supervisory board at Event Horizon S.A. and as partner at Chiswick Creative Ventures*.
Over the past decade, Bernard’s primary focus was on advising private equity and venture capital funds on maximizing value from acquisitions as well as supporting leading global corporations in planning and execution of complex cross-border integrations and divestitures.
He co-founded two technology startups and is an active angel investor in the video gaming and biotech industries.
*As a shareholder of Chiswick Creative Ventures Limited, member is involved in entities holding shares representing not less than 5% of the total number of votes at the Annual General Meeting of the Company.
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Bartosz Karasiński
Chairman
Member of the Extended Board and Export & Global Accounts Director at Nowy Styl Sp. z o. o., a Polish company which is Europe’s leading producer of furniture solutions for office spaces and public places.
Actively investing in gamedev companies, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Wooden Alien S.A. Starward Industries S.A. shareholder.
Graduate of the Cracow University of Economics, faculty of International Management and Financial Audit.
The member is not involved in entities nor is personally holding shares representing not less than 5% of the total number of votes at the Annual General Meeting of the Company.
Paweł Wilkos
Member
Expert Producer at 11 bit studios S.A., one of the largest gaming companies in Poland, known for globally popular titles such as Frostpunk and This War of Mine.
He has been involved in the game development industry for over 15 years, gaining experience in artistic positions and expanding his skills from Graphic Designer to 2D and 3D Artist, 3D Generalist, and FX Artist.
He has been serving in production roles for almost a decade, with over half of that time spent at CD Projekt RED, working on titles such as The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077.
With his extensive experience and high-level skills, he supports GLG as a member of the advisory board and an expert in the field of video game production. GLG is the largest international organization that brings together specialists from various fields and provides market intelligence tools for businesses.
The member is not involved in entities nor is personally holding shares representing not less than 5% of the total number of votes at the Annual General Meeting of the Company.
CORPORATE TEAM
Andrzej Szafraniec
Chief Legal Officer
Advises the Company on the legal side and coordinates and supervises all legal processes in the Company, from current affairs to significant events such as share issues or introduction of shares into public trading.
He has many years of experience in legal advisory and management of legal processes of companies from various industries, including the GameDev industry (Wooden Alien SA, Moonlit SA, Far From Home SA). in companies listed on the NewConnect market.
Kamila Wojciechowska
Operating Officer
Associated with the gaming industry since 2016.
He has over 10 years of experience in managing and settlement of projects subsidized from national and EU funds.
In the company, she is responsible for supporting corporate processes.
