If you’re a gamer, you likely loathe all of the hardware and software expenses that are associated with the hobby. Be completely platform agnostic and cloud based with LiquidSky, the newly funded startup that converts your computer into a cloud-based gaming device instantaneously. Offloading hardware requirements and rendering to the cloud, this solves a real problem that gamers have and this could be the single most best thing to happen to gamers but it also represents a novel paradigm for software development and deployment
AlleyWatch spoke with Jason Kirby, Chief Marketing Officer about the company’s origins and its most recent round of funding.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We raised $4M from Samsung NEXT (formerly known as Samsung Global Innovation Center), Scott McNealy, William Raduchel, and several other Angels and a few investment firms.
Tell us about your product or service.
LiquidSky converts any Android, Mac, Windows or Linux device into a high-performance gaming PC. Our servers in the cloud do all the game/application rendering and stream it back to the user all within 30 milliseconds. A lot or people compare us to the fictional company Pied Piper from the show Silicon Valley because we developed a compression algorithm that allows for ultra-low latency streaming.
What inspired you to start the company?
Ian, our founder, felt there needed to be a way for people to rent performance when they needed and not have to spend $1,000’s on the hardware. As a big gamer himself he wanted to make gaming more accessible to the masses without the need for special hardware.
How is it different?
Unlike our competitors and the previous attempts at cloud gaming we focused on being compatible with existing hardware so users don’t have to pay for custom controllers or devices. We also provide an ultra-low latency gaming experience from the cloud that can stream to any device at 1080p at 60FPS. Users don’t even notice that the rendering is happening 500 miles away on a server, it feels like their local device. One of the best selling points of our service is that we provide users a full Windows PC in the cloud allowing them to download, install and play any game or app without any compromises.
What market you are targeting and how big is it?
The international gaming industry and it is $100B
What’s your business model?
Subscription and Pay-As-You-GO
Is the gaming market growing?
Definitely growing! It was $91B in 2015 and expected to hit $100B in 2016.
What was the funding process like?
Took way too much time. The due diligence by Samsung took 3 months longer than we expected.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
The due diligence process and crossing all our t’s and dotting all our I’s and showing proof that we did it all properly.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
We’ve built a technology that can be applied across so many industries that along is reason enough to write a check. It also helped that we are about to hit 1M registered users and have seen revenue growing consistently.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Make sure your product is worth funding. Too many startups focus on products that simply aren’t worth VC money. Maybe friends & family or Angels might invest but make sure your business model can survive with less than $1M in funding to accomplish the goals you have set.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
Releasing a revolutionary product that will shake the gaming industry as we know it.
Where is your favorite fall destination in the city?
Central Park
