Bubble Gum Interactive shares in $10 million CA funding round

Sydney-based games studio Bubble Gum Interactive is one of 23 innovative companies to share in $10 million through Commercialisation Australia, along with a host of health-related projects.

Innovation Minister Kim Carr, who announced the funding today, said the Commercialisation Australia program takes inventions “out of the laboratory and into the marketplace”.

“The [program is aimed at] Australian inventors who push the envelope and strive to create new and better products,” Senator Carr said in a statement.

The latest round of companies to receive funding includes Sydney-based games studio Bubble Gum Interactive, profiled by StartupSmart last month, which received $225,288 in funding.

Bubble Gum Interactive has already raised more than $1 million in round one financing from angels, VCs and other grants, and was the first investment of the Sydney Angels Side Car Fund.

Its first game, Little Space Heroes, enables players to create their own hero and explore a galaxy.

Co-founder Paul Gray says the Commercialisation Australia funding will be used to build the billing platform to enable multicurrency billing, and build more features into the game itself.

The funding will also enable the company to improve its customer service tools.

“We were confident [we would receive funding] but it is very tough and competitive process. It was probably six months in total to get our application through,” Gray says.

“The key thing is to have a clear picture of who your customer is, how you’re going to serve them and how you will differentiate yourself. What is it about your business that is different?”

“You also need a clear plan for your expenditure. It’s all got to be very well mapped out… right down to the dollars and cents.”

The only company to receive the maximum $2 million was Switch Automation, a cloud-based platform for automation and energy management in homes and commercial buildings.

The funding will assist Switch Automation in their efforts to bring the platform to market.

Other recipients include five health-related products which aim to manage chronic stress, create drugs with fewer side effects, produce healthier foods, combat hearing loss, and enhance micro-scale blood storage.

Funding was also granted to an invention that could produce biological drugs to fight pain, cancer and inflammatory diseases in cats, dogs and horses.

Seven ICT projects also won support, including a mobile phone app that operates like a hotel key to open rooms. App developer LEAPIN received $50,000 to determine the best route to market.