Brian Wong, a UBC graduate at the age of 18 and now currently 21, has founded the company Kiip, a mobile advertising tech startup that provides tangible rewards or virtual currency for virtual accomplishments. The business already has huge investments from companies such as Hummer Winblad and True Ventures in April 2011 and Canadian VC Relay Ventures in July 2012, which have invested $4 million and $11 million respectively. They share revenue with the game or app’s publisher as incentive for them to integrate Kiip into their games or apps. The brands, which currently include American Apparel, Proctor & Gamble and Sony Music, fund the rewards. Kiip has found a hole in the market that currently does not exist in the exact same form as the company, and thus provides opportunity in a huge market with an appropriate economies of scale. For Brian, as the CEO of Kiip, a new company, he must be able to plan, direct and control his company effectively. The strategy used is to provide customers with these rewards at random times for virtual accomplishments, when people are in a positive state of mind. It has already earned a large start-up capital, and therefore needs to be able to generate a sizeable profit if it wants to keep its investors. Kiip has the potential to grow significantly in a short period of time because of the lack of competitors that do what Kiip does in the market, so fairly soon we may see Brian as one of the most successful young entrepreneurs to come from Canada.
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