ENTREPRENEUR STARTUP SPECIAL (2)
Dhoom Down South
Apps and games builder
Robosoft shows the way in building a global business out of a small town
With over 15 million
downloads, the mobile game Dhoom 3 is a runaway hit for its makers, a company
headquartered in Udupi, a town of some 1,13,000 in coastal Karnataka. The
company, which started with remote software product development and was based
for a short while in Mumbai quickly moved to Udupi and refocused on the
emerging opportunities in the mobile space.
As
a specialist in building apps and games on the Apple platform, Robosoft has
cornered a niche for itself in the crowded mobile phone market. Dhoom 3 is
hardly its only success story; another game named Starship (launched in August
last year) has already racked up over $3,50,000 in revenues for Robosoft.
“We
want to build a series of super hits from both our businesses ... Global
Delight, which builds mobile photo, video and audio apps, and 99games, which
engineers casual mobile games for a global audience,“ says Rohith Bhat, founder
and chief executive of Robosoft.
Starship,
the fast growing mobile game, itself is expected to earn $20 million in revenue
this fiscal year.
When
Bhat first pitched his business to early-stage investors, barely a couple
showed an interest in backing a venture from the hinterland. “I had to really
go out there and hard-sell our abilities and our products,“ he says. Three
years later, the situation couldn't have been more different .When the
I-bankers went out scouting for funds, at least 18 or 20 investors queued up
for a share of the fast-grow ing company. “In the interim, we had proven our
abilities and taken location of our business out of the p i c t u r e ...w e
showed you can build a global business out of a small town.“ While Robosoft
does have offices in Bengaluru and Mumbai, he says, the firm continues to be
headquartered in Udupi. “Entrepreneurs need to get the formula right...with a
strong business plan, location become irrelevant to the success of any
venture,“ he says.
Being
in Udupi has given Ro bosoft access to an abundant pool of talent -Manipal
Institute of Technology nearby is an education hub -and the opportunity to be
among a few early successes in the region. Doing business has been second
nature to the people in and around Udupi, trading and banking have flourished
(several staterun banks including Syndicate, Vijaya and Corporation Bank were
founded in the area) and Robosoft wants to lean on this tradition to grow.
“We
can be a successful company without being based in Bengaluru,“ says Bhat. “We
have strong customer support and an eagle eye on the competition...for our
clients it was okay to be located anywhere.“
Bhat
has looked to build on this reputation. In April this year, he raised some $12
million for his venture and says the eventual goal is to spin both entities off
into separate businesses, to maximise valuations. “Both businesses have
separate staff, both for engineering and support,“ he adds. “In the long term,
we are looking for investors who have both the patience and deep pockets to
fund our global expansion.“
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Rahul Sachitanand
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ETM31MAY15
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