Edu Shola, the founder of Deluxe Creations has been awarded a cash prize for coming first in the Orange Corners Innovation Fund business pitch competition facilitated by FATE Foundation

Nigerian Deluxe Creation started operations in 2010, and became a three person outfit for their first game in 2014. That first game created was a game called App rush, which was developed in 3D, using the Game Maker platform, but the studio has since gone on to develop a slew of other hyper casual titles.

Sharing his success on social media, Shola said,

“Earlier this year, I was selected as one of the 30 entrepreneurs advancing to the next stage of the OCN cohort 9, chosen from 1000+ applicants. After a two-day boot camp, we pitched our businesses, and I was selected alongside 19 great minds for business incubation, which included enterprise training, advisory services, mentorship, funding, networking, and more.

The facilitators were awesome, exposing me to a wealth of knowledge in areas like business model canvas, corporate governance, and financial modelling. My team and I even developed a game addressing real societal issues, finding ways to sensitize players and effect change beyond gameplay.

As the training intensified, I faced the challenge of balancing running a game development and animation studio with the program, leading to my first watershed moment. I learned to improve how I delegate tasks to my team.

Pitching a game development and animation business in a program with diverse industries was a huge challenge, but that was the idea to elevate our industry’s visibility by going to less-explored territories, amplifying visibility for more opportunities and success stories. I absorbed valuable feedback and insights from the demo pitch day and Mr. Great’s pitch preparation class, really helped in refining my deck. Throughout the program, I saw personal growth alongside 19 incredible entrepreneurs.”

The studio which has seen grown to six people is currently working on educational games alongside Rasta Santa, Urban Fury & Adventures of Chike Lost in Lagos which has strong cultural representation.

You can follow their works on their website and also on Apple and Google Play store respectively.