North East games developer SockMonkey Studios has doubled in size on the back of a £250,000 investment.
The Middlesbrough-based business has seen its staff numbers double in the last year amid moves to grow its suite of original games.
The company secured £250,000 of investment from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund last June, which it used to launch a demo version of its first original game, Fish Tanks.
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Growing its workforce from 17 to 37 also sparked a move to a larger office in Middlesbrough town centre, where it is set for further growth as it focuses on boosting its marketing, art and animation teams. The developer said it has seen record-breaking turnover this year, and is on track to grow this further in 2022.
Following the success of the Fish Tanks demo, the business is now looking to secure a publishing deal to expand its original game offering, in addition to working with game developer Sumo Digital and global indie games developer, tinyBuild, on other projects over the next year.
SockMonkey was founded in 2013 by Darren Cuthbert and Bob Makin, who were later joined by Darren Falcus. With over 35 years’ experience in the industry, Falcus co-founded Optimus Software, one of the first video game studios in Teesside which was later sold to US publishing giant Acclaim Entertainment.
The last year has seen the team win a number of awards at the year’s Tees Tech Awards, with CEO Mr Makin winning Business Leader of the Year and co-founder and director of business development Darren Falcus winning the Unsung Hero award.
Mr Makin said: “We’ve rapidly built up our team over the last year and we’ve grown so much as a business already, with an exciting future ahead.
“As we continue to scale our team, we will remain focused on supporting the local community in Middlesbrough and the wider Tees Valley region. We work closely with Teesside University to provide internships in the region and, with the help of partners like NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, we will continue to boost growth in the region.”
The company’s investment came from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia.
Daniel Thomas at Mercia said: “SockMonkey is an exciting, growing studio with a reputation for high-quality work. The company has a strong pipeline of projects and has identified exciting opportunities for its strategic growth story. We are delighted by its performance over the last year and look forward to working with the team as they continue to expand SockMonkey in the fast-growing gaming sector.”
Sean Hutchinson at British Business Bank, said: “SockMonkey Studios has demonstrated how transformative investment and business support can be. It is good to see how the organisation is driving innovation, developing skills and supporting jobs in the Tees Valley region.”
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.
