Tsumanga Studios, the company behind the recently released Winx Sirenix Power and the forthcoming online title, based upon the same franchise, has been awarded EDGE funding, totalling £48,500.
Tsumanga was one of eighteen companies to win EDGE funding and the only games/interactive entertainment company to win through to the final round.
Graeme Harvey, the co-founder and CEO told us, exclusively:
We feel privileged to have won EDGE funding, against very high calibre competitors. With our recent success of our first App Winx Sirenix Power that achieved over 700,000 downloads and 30,000 DAU in the last 6 weeks. We are more than thrilled to have been recognised by the EDGE judges, for the potential to drive both Tsumanga Studios and the Scottish Games Industry forward on a global scale. The fund will enable us to hire 2 marketing positions in Glasgow, including an International Marketing Manager and Graphic Designer. We are now hiring.
The EDGE fund is one the best things to be setup to enable young companies to reach their potential sooner then ever before.
We would like to thank E-Spark’s Jim Duffy and his team for giving us the much needed support and guidance over the last 8 months, without them life would of much harder!
Competition for the fund was fierce. Over 200 applications were received, which were then whittled down to a short list of 30, who pitched their business at yesterday’s final.
The panel of Sir Willie Haughey (City Refrigeration), Julie Grieve (Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust), Kevin Dorren (founder of Diet Chef), Crawford Gillies (Chairman of Scottish Enterprise) and Gordon Merrylees (RBS) decided on the winners.
Finance Secretary John Swinney commented:
I am seeing a new spirit of entrepreneurship developing in Scotland, building on our nation’s proud tradition as innovators, and this second round of the Scottish EDGE Awards celebrates and supports fresh Scottish business talent.
This Government and our enterprise agencies are focused on maintaining Scotland’s position as the most supportive environment for business in the UK. Scottish EDGE targets ambitious entrepreneurs wishing to establish or grow their business and will provide real opportunities for them to contribute to Scotland’s economic success.
The Scottish Government recognises that the private and public sector must work together to assist business growth in Scotland and the Scottish EDGE fund is able to unlock investment for entrepreneurs.
We are focused on maintaining Scotland’s position as the most supportive environment for business in the UK. The Scottish EDGE has already awarded 17 ambitious entrepreneurs with funds to establish or grow their business and contribute to Scotland’s economic success.
Entrepreneurial Spark has been a key part of this fund and the Scottish Government has been delighted to facilitate this innovative new approach to business support, which I consider will be crucial in developing some of the ambitious next generation entrepreneurs.
I would like to congratulate the winners and the runners-up in this second round of funding. The eighteen successful enterprises have demonstrated their growth potential and I wish them every success in the future.
You can find the complete list of winners on the Scottish government website.
Congratulations to Tsumanga. We’re looking forward to finding out more about the company’s plans for the future…
