Chaotic Moon Studios

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Chaotic Moon Studios
Type Private
Industry Mobile apps
Interactive entertainment
Founded 2010
Founder(s) Mike Erwin
whurley (William Hurley)
Ben Lamm
Headquarters Austin, Texas
Key people Mike Erwin (CFO)
whurley (GM)
Ben Lamm (CEO)
Adam Lipman (COO)
Employees 60[1]
Website chaoticmoon.com

Chaotic Moon Studios is an American mobile software design and development studio founded in 2010 and based in Austin, Texas.

History

Chaotic Moon was founded in March 2010 by Ben Lamm, whurley (William Hurley) and Mike Erwin.[2][3] In 2012, they launched Chaotic Moon Labs, a research and development division.[4]

In March 2013, Hollywood talent agency William Morris Endeavor, in conjunction with their technology investment and equity partner Silver Lake Partners, announced that they had taken a significant position in Chaotic Moon Studios.[5]

Culture and strategy

Chaotic Moon executives have described their agency as more of a cult than a company.[6] Their software emphasizes overall user experience,[7] while their hardware approach is to enter a variety of markets.[4] The company is discriminating about which clients and applications it takes on, often turning down Fortune 500 companies with large budgets. Chaotic Moon’s leadership feels their selectivity is a significant reason for their success.[7]

In 2012, technology blog GigaOM named Chaotic Moon to The Mobile 15, its list of the most innovative mobile technology companies.[8]

Divisions

Software

Chaotic Moon has built applications and games for a variety of clients including News Corp,[9] Microsoft, Pizza Hut, Fox, CBS Sports, Sanrio, Betty Crocker, Starbucks, Best Buy, Groupon and Discovery Channel.[4][10][11]

Research and development

Chaotic Moon Labs has built predictive devices, starting with a “smart” shopping cart that follows the shopper around the store, and a mind-controlled skateboard.[4] The Smarter Cart is controlled through voice commands, gestures, location data and accelerometer data using a Windows 8 tablet, and “sees” with the assistance of a Kinect. Both devices are attached to its handlebars, with a UPC scanner on its underside.[12] Initially tested at Whole Foods Market in April 2012,[13] it follows customers around the store and guides them to the products on their shopping lists.[14] It was featured as part of a White House demonstration on safety in September 2012.[4] The motorized skateboard, referred to as the Board of Awesomeness, was showcased at South by Southwest in 2012.[15] It reaches a top speed of 32 mph.[16]

In February 2013, Chaotic Moon demonstrated the “Helmet of Justice,” a bicycle helmet that uses seven cameras to mimic a black box in case of accident. The cameras start recording on impact, providing a 360-degree view and capturing up to two hours of footage. The helmet is intended to catch hit-and-run violators.[17]

Games

In 2012, Chaotic Moon worked with Majesco Entertainment to develop Hello Kitty Picnic with Sanrio Friends, the first Hello Kitty game on Nintendo 3DS. Released on November 2, 2012, the game includes 10 mini-games and a variety of multiplayer options.[18][19]

Acquisitions

Chaotic Moon Studios has made a series of acquisitions since its inception in 2010. Two such public acquisitions were Dollar App and Symbiot Security. In May 2012, Chaotic Moon acquired Dollar App,[20] a San Francisco-based mobile app developer founded in 2008 by Dom Sagolla.[21][22] That same year, Dollar App developed Barack Obama’s official iPhone presidential campaign app.[23] Dollar App became Chaotic Moon’s Bay Area satellite studio, with Sagolla staying on as chief product officer.[20] Later in 2012, Chaotic Moon Studios purchased information and risk metrics security management company Symbiot Security.[10] Symbiot, which was also co-founded by Hurley,[24] previously specialized in providing information security for the US government and military, as well as corporate clients.[25]

References

  1. ↑ Brian Gaar, "After investment, Chaotic Moon Studios poised for big growth," Austin American-Statesman, March 19, 2013.
  2. ↑ Susan Lahey, “Chaotic Moon is the quintessential Austin company,” Silicon Hills News, January 25, 2012.
  3. ↑ Anna Gonzalez, “Who’s Next: William ‘whurley’ Hurley,” CNN, March 23, 2011.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Brian Gaar, “Austin’s quirky Chaotic Moon making splash in mobile app world,” Austin American-Statesman, August 25, 2012.
  5. ↑ Paul Bond, "WME Takes Stake in Mobile App Developer," The Hollywood Reporter, March 8, 2013.
  6. ↑ Brian Gaar, “Chaotic Moon attracting big-name mobile app clients,” Austin American-Statesman, March 20, 2011.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Phil Simon, “3 Tips for a Smarter Mobile Strategy,” Inc., September 10, 2012.
  8. ↑ Stacey Higginbotham, “The Mobile 15: Our picks for the most innovative companies,” GigaOM, September 18, 2012.
  9. ↑ Will Oremus, “Why the World’s First iPad-only Newspaper Should Be Its Last,” Slate, December 3, 2012.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Jason Ankeny, “Big Claims Aim to Boost Business at Mobile App Startup,” Entrepreneur, August 28, 2012.
  11. ↑ Bryan Menell, “Chaotic Moon Creates Labs Division,” AustinStartup.com, August 31, 2011.
  12. ↑ Joseph Parish, “Chaotic Moon’s ‘Board of Awesomeness’ is a Kinect-controlled electric skateboard,” The Verge, January 10, 2012.
  13. ↑ “Grocery Cart Follows You Around Store,” Discovery.com, March 6, 2012.
  14. ↑ Robert McMillan, “Microsoft Kinect Games Grocery Shopping at Texas Whole Foods,” Wired, February 27, 2012.
  15. ↑ Ewan Spence, “The Mind Controlled Skateboard Thinks Round The Halls of SXSW Interactive,” Forbes, March 13, 2012.
  16. ↑ Kevin Makice, “Kinect Spawns Board of Awesomeness,” Wired, January 11, 2012.
  17. ↑ Adi Robertson, “’Helmet of Justice’ uses seven cameras to make a black box for bicyclists,” The Verge, February 25, 2013.
  18. ↑ “Majesco Entertainment Announces Hello Kitty Picnic With Sanrio Friends Available Now On Nintendo 3DS,” majescoent.com, October 30, 2012.
  19. ↑ “Hello Kitty Picnic with Sanrio Friends,” IGN. Accessed March 7, 2013.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Sarah Drake, “Austin startup Chaotic Moon buys Dollar App,” Austin Business Journal, May 31, 2012.
  21. ↑ Michael Learmonth, “We Ask a Twitter Co-Founder, What’s Up With Fail Whale?” Advertising Age, October 20, 2009.
  22. ↑ “Dom Sagolla, DollarApp,” BBC News, July 5, 2010.
  23. ↑ Brian Gaar, “Austin app-maker Chaotic Moon expands into Bay Area,” Austin American-Statesman, May 30, 2012.
  24. ↑ “BMC’s William Hurley talks up open source,” CIO, November 27, 2007.
  25. ↑ Matthew Fordahl, “Texas company wants to bring vigilante justice to cyberspace,” Seattle Times, June 21, 2004.

External links

Official website

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