Thursday, August 2, 2012

ENTREPRENEUR/STARTUP SPECIAL...IN SMALL TOWNS(3)



CHAYOWO GAMES

The Kochi-based startup is tapping millions around the globe who play casual and social games on their computers, smartphones and tablets. The company has been successful in creating over 100 proprietary games that are played by over one million people each month. The firm, co-founded by Jugul Thachery five years ago, initially started as a game development outsourcing provider. It then moved up the value chain by providing creative content to Nickelodeon, the American children’s channel, Big Fish, one of the largest distributors of casual games, and Chillingo, a leading games publisher and subsidiary of Electronic Arts Inc. Thachery decided to publish his own games to target the $3-billion online gaming market. Some of these games include ‘I Park It’, ‘Mortgage Meltdown’ and ‘The Dark Hills of Cherai’. ChaYoWo, which has 100 employees, expects to touch revenues of around $5 million by the end of this year. “We tried to go to the metros, but we found the best talent here,” said Thachery, an alumnus of the University of Cincinnati. The coastal city’s relaxed environment and low costs were also advantages. The firm has received undisclosed seed funding from New York-based Maxa Group. The startup is now setting up offices in San Francisco.

Peerzada Abrar and Radhika P Nair ET120629

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