As the world emerges from the shadows of lockdowns of the last 16 months, consumers, starved for entertainment options out of the home, will be greeted with new and novel immersive experiences that fuse technology and groups together. Advances in motion tracking, touch screens, and sound technologies are making location-based entertainment solutions more compelling and attractive for those wanting to try something new. Electric Gamebox is a provider of social in-person multisensory gaming experiences designed to be enjoyed by groups of 2-6. The company currently has four locations that offer 30-60 minute experiences that are designed to collaborative and fun with plans for aggressive geographic expansion over the next few years. The Electric Gamebox experience requires a small physical footprint and the company plans to integrate into existing retail locations to increase its availability. Like Escape the Rooms, the gameplay is meant to be versatile for outings for groups of friends, dates, corporate team-building, birthday parties, etc. The company currently offers 6 games that it has developed with plans to bring more titles onboard including brand name franchises to enhance its experiential capabilities. Pricing for its London location starts at £9 for kids and £14 for adults for 30 minutes, making it quite accessible.
London TechWatch caught up with CEO, Cofounder, and repeat entrepreneur Will Dean (founded Tough Mudder) to learn more about the inspiration for the business, how the company managed to expand despite lockdown during the pandemic, strategic plans, lastest round of funding, which brings the total funding raised to $25.6M, and much, much more.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
This investment round was our Series A2, and we raised $11M, with this round led by Philian and including Brookfield Asset Management (through its Retail Revitalization Program), Index Ventures, Project A, and ActivumSG.
Tell us about your product or service.
Electric Gamebox (EGB) is reinventing how we play video games. Our Gameboxes combine projection mapping, touch screens, motion tracking, and surround sound technologies to deliver an entirely new form of immersive entertainment without the need for headsets. Teams of 2-6 play 30-60 minute games featuring levels and challenges designed to be fun, social, and collaborative. The first location opened on London’s Southbank in October 2019 and EGB now has UK venues in Outer London and Manchester, and a US venue in Dallas, Texas. We have 6 games currently available to choose from and more games being launched every month.
What inspired the start of Electric Gamebox?
I previously founded the popular obstacle race Tough Mudder, and my Cofounder and CFO, David Spindler, founded Tough Mudder Bootcamp. We decided to start Electric Gamebox with the aim of making screen time social again, and giving customers a way to share technology in a fun, collaborative way.
How is it different?
We’re a unique concept with the aim of filling a gap in the market for a truly social, scalable immersive experience. By using patent-pending interactive technologies we’re able to offer multiple different games within the same Gamebox, meaning there is no turnaround time needed between customer groups and no delay for setup. The games are fun, collaborative and, crucially, ‘team vs. environment’ so players prosper by working together.
What market you are targeting and how big is it?
Our main audiences are 18-45s on evenings out (birthday parties, dates, bachelorettes, etc.), Corporate groups, families, and tourists. Games are suitable for everyone aged 8+ meaning many players come with their friends or colleagues during the week, and return with their families at weekends.
What’s your business model?
We are creating the platform for immersive entertainment, with content on one side (built in-house, built by third-party developers and, soon, using brand-name IPs) and distribution on the other (through retail units, partnerships, and franchisees). EGB sits at this nexus of gaming, retail, experiences, and technology, controlling the standards and the software that powers the experience.
How has COVID-19 impacted your business?
Like many businesses, we were impacted by COVID. First of all, managing the impact on colleagues, friends, and family was our most important priority. From a business perspective, we had to close our venues in the UK during lockdowns. That said, we are incredibly proud of the team and the work that went into making 2020 a success despite these challenges. We opened three locations in 2020, in Manchester and Lakeside in the UK, and our first US location in Dallas, TX in December. We added six awesome new games, so could come into 2021 with a category-leading catalogue of content.
From a societal perspective, we all wish COVID had never happened. Purely from a business point of view, COVID has been positive for us, as landlords and other entertainment partners are now being incredibly competitive in the terms they are offering footfall drivers like us.
What was the funding process like?
Funding is always stressful because it’s a sales process, so you are dealing with imperfect information. At the same time, we really value the opportunity to hear others’ perspectives on our business – we don’t have a monopoly on good ideas. Hearing from the likes of Philian and Activum has really helped us see our business in a new light, and make improvements, building a better business in the long run.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
The biggest challenge that we faced is that we are an experiential business and so to sample the product means coming to one of our locations. For obvious reasons, most of the people we spoke to were not able to travel, so we had to use video, Zoom or get folks to send friends in Dallas or London to have them get a ‘true view’ of the product.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Our investors agree with us that there is the potential for Electric Gamebox to create the platform for immersive entertainment. Building out a wide distribution of EGB units would create a valuable business, but building a true platform is what will take the business to the billion-dollar valuations that get Venture Capitalists excited. It’s this opportunity that led them to invest.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
By the end of 2021, we plan to have a further 12 venues launched in the US, bringing us to a total of 16 venues in the UK and US. We also plan to launch a further 9 games to all venues by the end of the year, giving customers a wide choice.
What advice can you offer companies in London that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Keep believing in yourself and your business. If the fundamentals are strong, and you have a great team (even if it’s a team of 1!) focus on building a great business and you will have options for capital raising.
Keep believing in yourself and your business. If the fundamentals are strong, and you have a great team (even if it’s a team of 1!) focus on building a great business and you will have options for capital raising.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We plan to have 100 venues live within 2-years, primarily in the US to start with, and 1,000 venues within 5 years. We will also keep developing in-house games and games built by third-party developers to build an amazing content library.
What is your favourite restaurant in London?
Pizza Pilgrims.
