Brian Wong facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Brian Wong
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Brian Wong c. 2012
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| Born | April 14, 1991 |
| Occupation | Founder and former CEO of Kiip |
Brian Wong (born April 14, 1991) is a Canadian Internet entrepreneur. In 2010, Wong helped start a company called Kiip (pronounced "keep"). Kiip created a special way for people playing mobile games to get real-world rewards from brands and companies. Players would receive these rewards for reaching achievements inside their games, like leveling up or getting a high score.
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Brian Wong's Early Life and School
Brian Wong grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. His parents came from Hong Kong. He was a very smart student and skipped several grades in school. He finished high school when he was only 14 years old! He did this through a special program at the University of British Columbia (UBC) called the University Transition Program. This program helps really bright young students go to university early.
Brian then earned his bachelor's degree from UBC when he was 18. While he was at university, he started his first company, FollowFormation. This company made it easier to find and follow popular people on Twitter based on different topics.
In 2010, Wong worked for a news website called Digg. He helped create their mobile app for Android phones. After about five months, he left Digg. This experience later inspired him to start his own business.
What is Kiip?
Brian Wong got the idea for Kiip when he was 19 years old, while flying on an airplane. He noticed many passengers were playing games on their iPads. He thought that the ads in these games took up space without adding anything useful.
Brian realized that reaching an achievement in a game, like beating a level, is a special moment. He wanted to use these "achievement moments" to give players targeted and useful rewards. This way, companies could connect with players when they were most excited and engaged.
In July 2010, Wong teamed up with two friends, Courtney Guertin and Amadeus Demarzi, who he had also worked with at Digg. Together, they founded Kiip.
Kiip's Growth and Success
By 2017, Kiip was sending achievement-based rewards, like coupons, to 100 million people every month. The company raised more than $32 million from different investment companies. These investors included Relay Ventures, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, True Ventures, Verizon Ventures, and Crosslink Capital.
Kiip has offices in several major cities around the world, including San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Tokyo, and London. The company also partnered with over 40 well-known brands. Some of these brands include Amazon.com, Best Buy, Disney, Pepsi, and Victoria's Secret. In 2017, Kiip was on track to earn more than $20 million in revenue.
Brian Wong's Recognitions
In 2010, Brian Wong became one of the youngest business leaders to receive funding from a venture capital firm. A venture capital firm is a company that invests money in new businesses that they think will grow quickly.
By the time he was 20 years old, he was called a self-made millionaire. By 2012, he had given talks at several popular conferences, including TEDx and South by Southwest.
Brian Wong and Kiip were featured in many global magazines and newspapers. These included Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Inc. Magazine. He was even on the cover of Entrepreneur magazine in September 2014, as one of the young millionaires who were changing the world. In 2011, Forbes magazine also named Brian Wong to their "30 Under 30 Social/Mobile" list. This list highlights 30 influential people under 30 years old in the social media and mobile technology fields.
