UOIT alumni team named winner of Ignite Startup competition

Five UOIT Game Development and Entrepreneurship graduates who recently launched their own game development studio are about to take their innovative new company to new heights. Squabble Studios Ltd., a UOIT alumni business venture, has captured one of two prizes in the Ignite Durham competition presented by Spark Centre. Spark Centre is a not-for-profit group whose mission is to grow innovative technology-based companies in Durham Region and Northumberland County.

Squabble Studios, along with The Mobile Experience Company, will now take part in a customized, four-month boot camp to help accelerate their business. The boot camp includes $25,000 in cash and $25,000 of in-kind professional business services such as marketing, legal and accounting.

Developed by 2012 Faculty of Business and Information Technology graduates Veronica Cole, Aaron DeChamplain, Ian McCabe, Eric Rosendale and Matthew Stephan, Squabble focuses on the creation of original serious games, simulations and training applications.

Squabble is also featured as the cover story of the Spring 2013 edition of Durham Trade and Commerce magazine.

“This is a big milestone for us and has really opened a lot of doors to potential customers,” said Ian McCabe, Technical Artist, Squabble Studios. “Winning this competition will allow us to really move forward within the medical and municipalities sectors and get some new innovative games out there into the marketplace.”

Squabble emerged from an original group of more than 100 hopeful enterprises, which applied to the Ignite Durham competition. Applicants took part in a Pitch School over five nights in January. In February, the top 30 companies took part in a Pitch Night, where five finalists were chosen to give boardroom presentations and take part in interviews with an expert power panel.

McCabe says their collective hands-on experience at UOIT set them on the path to success. The developing of games for The Hospital for Sick Children (Power Defense) and the Region of Durham Waste Management Facility (Sort ‘em Up) helped them hone their skills and apply their academic knowledge to real-life products. 

“The Game Development and Entrepreneurship program at UOIT is simply excellent,” said McCabe. “Our professors were constantly pushing us throughout our university career, and the program was (and still is) always changing for the better under their guidance. Without the guidance of our Professors Bill Kapralos, Andrew Hogue, Lennart Nacke, Jeff Moretz and the rest of the FBIT faculty I don’t think we would be where we are today.”

About Squabble Studios Ltd.
http://www.squabblestudios.ca/

Squabble Studios is a game development studio with a focus on serious games, simulations and training applications. Squabble works with experts in various fields to identify a problem and develop a solution by creating a specialized interactive media product such as a video game or simulation. The solutions provided are engaging and entertaining forms of education. Squabble focuses on a personal approach, developing products hand in hand with the people affected by these problems on a daily basis.

About Ignite
www.ignitedurham.ca
Ignite is an exciting start-up boot camp organized by Spark Centre and the Region of Durham, along with many community partners. Ignite seeks out high-potential local companies and provides them with collective support.

About Spark Centre
www.sparkcentre.org
Spark Centre is a not-for-profit that helps to start and grow innovative technology-based companies in Durham Region and Northumberland County. Spark Centre is one of fourteen Regional Innovation Centres (RICs) that are part of the Ontario Network of Excellence (ONE), which supports the commercialization of ideas right across Ontario. Spark Centre’s services are provided thanks to the generous financial support of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation, Durham Region, the Durham Strategic Energy Alliance (DSEA) and the Northumberland Manufacturer’s Association (NMA).