Jude Ower: PlayMob

Jude Ower, 31
Company: PlayMob
Web: www.playmob.com

Jude Ower is an old hand when it comes to gaming, specifically gaming for educational purposes. She has been developing educational games for over a decade, and is a major player in the space.

PlayMob, which she founded in 2007, explores the potential for charities to raise money through games. It has created a platform which allows game players to buy in-game objects, for example a tree or building, with the profits going to charity. In this way, Ower believes, charities can connect with people who may not normally give. In total, the business has raised around $1m in investment from business angels, NESTA, Midven and investors such as Bill Liao (co-founder of Xing), Sarah du Heaume (founder of Just Media) and PlayMob’s chairman Ian Livingstone, to name a few.

2016 update:

Ower has remained as the CEO of PlayMob, which has raised more than £2m in growth capital funding to date and over $900,000 for charities across its 34 global campaigns. In 2015, Ower was selected as a finalist for the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award: New Generation 2015 – which recognises up and coming female entrepreneurial talent in the UK – and was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list 2016 for her contribution to games and entrepreneurship.