PIC CAPTION: Chris Heaton, co-founder at Skrmiish, the world's first mobile Bet-on-Yourself app, is excited about Africa's growing role in shaping the future of gaming. The African continent is poised to become one of the top three regions for the global gaming market within the next 10 years. Image: Supplied / Skrmiish
It should be no surprise that with 7.1 billion smartphone users in the world, gaming has experienced a meteoric rise in popularity among smartphone users since the 1970s, particularly in the video gaming segment as games are available on almost every digital device.
With the rise of Web 3.0, which incorporates decentralization, blockchain technologies, tokenization, and token-based economies, startups across the world are beginning to take advantage of the gaming wave as according to reports, the global gaming industry in 2024 is estimated to surpass $200 billion in market value and it is expected to surpass over $1000 billion by 2032. Skrmiish, the world’s first mobile Bet-on-Yourself app is no exception and AfricArena’s Jabulile Sonya Ngwenya catches up with its founder, Chris Heaton to find out what makes them so successful within the competitive iGaming industry.
“We started with zero funding”, Heaton exclaims. “Zero! I was financing this venture with my own money that I was making from my previous business.” Founder of South Africa’s iconic Brand Inc advertising agency, he knows a thing or two about identifying brilliant opportunities and building businesses.
Reflecting on Skrmiish’s journey so far, which he co-founded together with Roland Reed, he says, “I am incredibly proud of Skrmiish’s success”, Heaton tells AfricArena. “I’d like to say that successfully developing, building, and launching a global gaming company is without a doubt one of my proudest moments in my working career.”
Since those early days, Heaton has gone on to raise nearly $4 million over the last five years. “These funds were used to build the Skrmiish technology and business,” he says. He adds that he is looking at “targeting a further $1.5 million raise to complete the pre-series A raise and gear the business for success.”
Building Skrmiish was not easy, especially during the 2020 covid pandemic, and it now boasts a vibrant network of over 108,000 active players within its community.
Pivoting, as every founder knows, is a must-have skill in their arsenal. Skrmiish used this skill to their advantage during the pandemic. “Initially, the Skrmiish product was being built during the pandemic, from late 2018 to end 2020. We launched the first version into the market at the beginning of 2021. Through good leadership and planning, we were able to adjust quickly and continue to crack on during the lockdown,” he says.
In addition to this, understanding how to work remotely worked to his advantage as it wasn’t his first remote working rodeo. “I have run remote working systems in my previous businesses with much success, and when we started Skmiish, we were working from coffee shops and friends’ office spaces to begin with. So, adapting back to remote was relatively seamless.”
What makes his startup stand out in the iGaming industry, Heaton says, is that “Skrmiish is the world’s first mobile Bet-on-Yourself app that enables video gamers of every level to earn cash and crypto in every match they play on the games they love.”
“Why should people spend countless hours gaming but not earn anything for the time they invest in gaming,” says Heaton. This is where Skrmiish is a game changer, he says, as the platform has
a unique skills-based rewards system that gives players opportunities to earn in every match they play.
Heaton’s inspiration for starting Skrmiish started with two driving forces. This journey, Heaton shares, was inspired by “my co-founder Roland’s incredible passion for the gaming world. He is the avid gamer in the founding team and my son’s unbelievable ability to spend my hard-earned money on skins and dance moves in Fortnite and the like - there is no skill or financial-based return there as it is just for fun and cosmetic purposes.”
The moment we realised we were onto something came in two different ways, Heaton says. “The first came right in the beginning when we launched the first version of the product into the market. This included free-to-play (F2P) cash-sponsored tournaments working on a leaderboard system over a set period of time. We used streamers to own and activate these F2P tournaments, which they would market to their respective fan bases. Driving the opportunity to not only win cash but also the opportunity to play heads-up matches with them. This was a unique value proposition at the time and one that the users loved! The fan engagement that was stimulated by this activity was lovely to watch. It built immediate love and loyalty to the Skrmiish product and allowed us to acquire and herd users effectively.”
The second defining moment for the Skrmiish team when realised there was a need in the market for their product came in 2022 after the company pivoted. “The free-to-play tournaments were a very costly affair to run and they were not providing a sustainable business model for Skrmiish,” Heaton says. “We pivoted to a “Bet-on-Yourself” model, which removed the need for a player on the other side. We would produce in-game challenges for each player priced on that player’s historical data in their chosen game. We switched off the other features and re-launched the Skrmiish Bet-on-Yourself product on the 22nd August 2022. Within three months, we saw deposits jump from a few pounds to £50k in December 2022 and it was at that point, we knew we were on to something special.”
Heaton, who is an early riser, clocking his gym workout in first thing in the morning before he checks in daily with his South African and New Zealand teams and despite a busy schedule, ensures he is home to cook dinner for his family and have quality family time, says passion is what keeps him going. “I am passionate about what I do because I love working with incredible talent. Throughout my career, I have been very fortunate to work with some very special and loyal people. It’s what drives me. Seeing young and enthusiastic talent become experienced powerhouses under my leadership is incredibly rewarding.”
Building a successful startup, he says, has not been without its challenges. He gives AfricArena a glimpse inside some of the challenges Skrmiish has faced and overcome.
“We experienced many challenges over the last five years, and building tech that works, finding funding, finding the right people with the right skills, proving the commercial model, the reliance on third parties to make the business function are just a few challenges we had to overcome. Finding funding was and continues to be our biggest ongoing challenge. We underestimated the time that it was going to take to get this right, and we went through a significant change in market conditions that made it harder and harder to raise the necessary capital.”
Furthermore, he adds, we learnt a valuable lesson in the midst of it all. “Reliance on third parties was essential in the beginning to prove our model as quickly as possible but then became a downfall as they were unable to service our success. Planning and having a very hardline approach are key to success. As soon as risk becomes great, you must take big bold steps to alleviate the risk to maintain business success.”
Despite working through one of the toughest funding winters to date, Heaton encourages fellow startups and aspiring entrepreneurs to never give up. “I never stopped fundraising. I kept building my network. It is important to remember your network will always be your most valuable asset.”
Reflecting on the life lessons entrepreneurship has taught him, Heaton shares a valuable lesson a mentor shared with him. “My mentor said to me, ‘don't take anything in business personally. Failures are a fact of life. Failures breed success,” and I have seen this and experienced it.”
Excited about the future of gaming, particularly as Africa’s gaming sector, specifically in the video gaming segment, is expected to reach a market value of over $1 billion this year, with over 200 million gamers living on the continent, Heaton says there is room for exponential growth within a global demographic of 2.6 billion gamers and a 96% smartphone penetration worldwide.
“We are positioned to have dynamic growth within both the African and global gaming sectors as what we are doing is incredibly unique and taps very dedicated generation X,Y and Z video gaming markets. Skrmiish presents the iGaming industry with a unique value proposition to attract new markets to their established platforms. This will open up new acquisition opportunities in the future.”
The market is wide open at the moment, and there is a level playing field, Heaton says. He advises founders looking at building a startup within the gaming industry to “go for it, but before you do, make sure you are equipped with a thick skin, a solid commercial model, a powerful network and an infinite amount of resilience.” All these elements, he says with a cryptic smile, are needed in the gaming industry where competition for the best slice of pie is high.
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