26. Neon Play

Founder: Oli Christie
Founded: March 2010
Website: www.neonplay.com 

Coming in at number 10 on our list last year, Oli Christie’s Neon Play has now firmly established itself as a major force in the smartphone apps industry, with players in 155 countries and more than 50 million downloads to date. Over the last year Neon Play has completely changed its business model for apps; previously 59p, all its games are now free for players to download, with Neon Play making its revenue from in-app purchases and advertising (a model known as ‘freemium’). Now settled with 21 staff in the market town of Cirencester, the business is breaking away from the Tech City mould, which Christie admits has been a challenge, but has enabled him to foster a strong culture and a great team. Following previous successes, such as top 10 global smash Flick Football, Christie says Neon Play is working on a ‘big’ mobile game that has the potential to be one of the most successful games of the year. Watch this space!