Jens Lauritzson - Founder and CEO of Flexion Mobile
Reach the whole Android Market with your game an interview with founder Jens Lauritzson
Miron BykovLondon - 25/10/2019
Today we spoke to Jens Lauritzson founder of Flexion Mobile
Flexion Mobile, founded by Jens in 2007, is a distribution platform that solves technological and commercial fragmentations. Flexion’s unique technology makes games compatible with any distribution channel.
Tell me about the day the idea was born. Flexion was completely different when it started in 2007. The app distribution market was dominated by mobile operators and the smart phone, as we know it, was not born yet.
I had been working in the java games business for a few years and understood how difficult it was to get distribution via mobile operators. Instead of developing a game, we decided to develop a live score mobile app for football fans and use subscription as the main monetization model.
3UK loved the app called Premierscores and decided to preload it on all their devices. It was an instant success which lead to us developing a service for game developers who wanted to offer demos that could be unlocked without having to create a new version of the game.
You can say we were at the forefront of what is now called In-App Purchase and we helped game developers enable this in their games. Today the market is a lot more sophisticated, but our business model is the same. We help game developers get distribution in new channels without having to create new versions of their games. We work with top grossing games from all over the world and distribute in channels such as Amazon and Samsung.
What was the biggest turning point in the life of Flexion Mobile? It is difficult to identify one single event in the life of a company but there are a few big moments… The first one was of course when we as a start-up launched our Premiescores app during The World Cup in 2006.
The other one was when we managed, after a long process, to sign a global deal with Nokia who was the biggest device manufacturer in the world at the time.
The 3rd one was when we won the EU Horizon 2020 award and got a grant of 1.9 million euros. This came at a very important time and the feeling was amazing.
The only thing that can top this feeling was when we became a public company last year and listed on NASDAQ in Stockholm!
Three top tips for aspiring entrepreneurs:
Make sure that you solve a problem that is actually perceived to be a problem.
Believe in yourself. It will be very tough at times and most people cannot cope with the stress of running their own business.
Make sure you hire great people. Your closest partners will be like your family and you will need them.
What gets you out of bed every morning? I love what I do so going to work is never a problem. It is more difficult to actually take a break from work and put that phone down.
What did you want to be when you were little? I was always interested in technology and building stuff. I guess it was a sign of what was to come.
Favourite Disney character: Donald Duck
What is Flexion Mobile planning for the world next? The mobile game market is changing and will continue to grow over the coming years. It is now a $60b market. Flexion will continue to help developers reach new channels and develop unique services that makes us the leader in this space.
