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ICE PICK


The ICE Pick: Gamevy


“Gamevy is a model start-up and the deserving winner of Pitch ICE,” declared GamCrowd CEO Chris North as the curtain fell on the inaugural event at ExCeL. Casino International Online wanted to know more…


I


n February it was announced that online games developer, Gamevy, had taken the largest share of the public vote to win the inaugural “Pitch ICE” competition. The employee-owned company was judged to be the start-up with the most potential


after it received 32% of the 741 votes cast. As winners, Gamevy gained entry to the GamCrowd Incubator service - a program designed to help start- ups secure investment, fill skills and expertise gaps, and provide valuable introductions to operators in the industry for testing and distribution. Gamevy was represented at ICE Totally Gaming


2015 by co-founders Paul Dolman-Darrall and Helen Walton [the third founder is Dan Rough], who pitched the company’s Bornlucky Gameshows mobile and tablet app, which allows players to be the star of their very own gameshow. “The number and strength of Pitch ICE entries


shows just what an achievement it is to win the competition,” said Gamevy’s Dolman-Darrall. “We received fantastic exposure just from taking part – being announced winner will take this to another level and it endorses the faith we have in the product.” The three founders originally met in 2011 while


creating an IT education product (which is now the BCS Agile practitioner qualification, used by leading companies around the world). Having found that they worked well together, they decided they wanted to set up a company. It took another six months of research and discussion before they felt sure that they’d spotted a possible gap in the market. The company really began in September 2013 when the three founders were joined by their first developer. Since then they’ve grown into a company of eight full-time and two part-time staff. They’ve


48 APRIL 2015


launched a game on facebook, created BornLucky Gameshows and received their UK Gambling license.


Casino International caught up with the team post-


ICE to find out more about the company and its products…


Casino International Online [CIO]: Who are the


key team members of Gamevy and can you tell us something about their backgrounds? Gamevy: All Gamevy’s team members are key! We


have three brilliant developers who each specialise in a different aspect of the work: backend, front-end and mobile, and prototyping. Our designers work with a 3D animator and artist to produce all of our games. We even employ a composer who creates the unique soundscapes of our games. The leadership team have complementary skills.


Helen’s background is in marketing having worked for Unilever and Boots as well as running her own creative agency working with brands including Channel 4, the Daily Mail and the National Trust. Paul has worked with start-ups as well as launching brands such as Ocado and Banana Republic. He is an award-winning private investor and has worked as a consultant with many leading companies. Dan is our technical and development guru, having headed up development teams in the BBC and built leading software capability for 7digital. With a proven track record of working together, we’re looking forward to growing Gamevy.


CIO: Tell us a bit about your approach to


games. Gamevy: People love TV gameshows - they remain one of the most popular formats on TV with over 10


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