How female-led gaming startup AviaGames sees opportunity in high gas prices

As gas prices continue to rise, one startup is aiming to help drivers survive the pump. But it's probably not one you'd expect.

AviaGames Inc., based in Mountain View, makes mobile competitive games aimed at casual users — folks who may not consider themselves "gamers," but who still enjoy competing in bingo, sports or puzzles. The company announced Tuesday that it's launching a new tournament through its free Bingo Clash game that gives competitors a chance to win a $500 gas card.

The startup was founded in 2017 by CEO Vickie Chen and Ping Wang, who is vice president of marketing. Chen, who emigrated from China, has more than a decade of experience in managing and strategizing around games and entertainment.

About the AviaGames Inc.

AviaGames has raised roughly $60 million from investors such as Powerhouse Capital, Galaxy Interactive and Makers Fund. That puts Chen and co-founder Wang in rare company; startups founded by women only received 2.1% of U.S. venture funding in 2021, according to a recent report from PitchBook Data.

But Chen said that in her experience, she thinks investors saw her as an experienced founder with an inherent knowledge of a demographic that's missing from many company user bases.

"I didn't really notice any kind of bias or pushback at all, because I'm a female founder," Chen said. "In fact, our investors really appreciate that part, since they know the opportunity in the untapped market we're targeting are casual players... a lot of those are female users."

Through her professional and personal experiences, Chen said she recognized the opportunity for gaming companies to lure in an elusive demographic of players: women. Female players made up only 45% of all U.S. gamers as of last year, up from 41% in 2020, according to the data research site Statista.

"Traditionally, e-sports games are for a more male audience, and it's very intense," Chen told me. "It motivated me to create a platform that's inclusive of all gamers that's easy to join and to start."

Roughly 70% of AviaGames' users are women, with occupations ranging from housewife to business owner, Chen said.

"They enjoy playing casual games or competing with others in their spare time, like during their work lunch," she said. "It helps them decompress and relax."

AviaGames offers both free games and cash tournaments, the latter which requires players to pay an entry fee. However, the free games also offer players an opportunity to win cash.

The startup generates revenue from entry fees, as well as from ads, Chen said. It has more than than 10 million users for its games, which are available in Apple Inc.'s App Store and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s Galaxy store. Chen expects to have the company's games available through Google LLC's Play store soon.

Newzoo, which provides gaming industry data analysis, predicts that consumers will spend $116 billion on mobile games in 2024. Chen thinks the market for casual mobile games could be larger with the integration of social media platforms.

"Based on our past two years of data, we know that our users are a combination of casual game players and social media users, so we think this market is really huge," Chen said. "I think there can be billions of users globally."