Virtual Gaming Worlds Planning a $5 Million IPO

Perth-based gaming start-up Virtual Gaming Worlds is planning a $5 million IPO in Australia, giving the market an opportunity to invest in a unique game platform which enables players to monetise virtual casinos.

Virtual Gaming Worlds was founded by Laurence Escalante and has developed a game platform called Chumba World which allows players to create and monetise their own virtual casinos with real money.

Mr Escalante said there was a particular reason why the company was preparing for an Australian IPO.

“I found out why people don’t build gambling gaming companies in Silicon Valley – because venture capitalists in Silicon Valley cannot invest in gambling gaming,” he said.

“That’s because the money they invest is not their own money.”

Mr Escalante said the prospectus for the IPO would be filed with ASIC by mid-May.

The Chumba World platform was currently undergoing beta testing, he said. Although based in Perth, the company uses developers and animators in Asia and Europe, while the majority of the board are based in Sydney.

Virtual Gaming Worlds has also been invited to present at the Global iGaming Summit & Expo’s (GiGse) Startup Launchpad in San Francisco in May, considered the premier event for the North American online gambling industry.

The company is one of five which will present to a panel of industry experts, with the prize being the opportunity to exhibit at the GiGse 2013 event.