Gaming has become a multimillion-pound global industry – and a new start-up is aiming to help bring some of the fun and excitement of gaming to everyday life.
Founded by Sebastian Cranston, Gami Faction aims to help companies and organisations add elements of gamification to their business as well as working on an app which aims to gamify your life.
“With gamifying, the retention rates tend to be a lot better because the first way humans interact with the world is through play and imagination. It’s how we learn best so it just makes sense,” Cranston explains.
The other part of their business is working on the development of an app which will turn the life of users into a game with real-life rewards to claim.
Those who download the app can select up to five skillsets that they want to improve.
“If you select running, you’ll start off as a level 0 runner but the app will say ‘if you run 2km this week, you’ll become a level 1 runner and we’ll give you a discount off a pair of running socks’ and then level 2 might be a discount of a sweatband,” says Cranston.
“The idea is the reward from the preceding level will help you to attain the next level quicker and better.”
The early levels will be focused on monetary bonuses, but for those who get higher up the scale the rewards become more experience-led.
“A sports company might sponsor the running section of the app and decide that they want to send the top ten rated runners to do the London Marathon and donate on their behalf, so it’ll provide good PR for the company as well,” Cranston explains.
The business is based at Entrepreneurial Spark in Manchester. The dedicated ‘Hatchery’ at the incubator site was established by NatWest in partnership with KPMG and is currently home to 80 businesses, many with a tech background.
Each intake gives the entrepreneurs a base for an initial six months and access to NatWest staff and mentoring sessions with KPMG.
The company is still looking for its first round of funding, but being based at Entrepreneurial Spark has provided a huge boost for Gami Faction.
“I was actually looking at moving to another city to get into one of the hatcheries before Manchester launched, so it was quite timely,” he says.