J e f f J a n g
co - Founder and
art director ,
BoxiMals
studios inc.
age: 25
the story: Jeff Jang is a
gamer—and thanks to his
company, more kids may
end up gamers too. Boximals
Studios produces educa-
tional video games featuring
animalized boxes—picture
the cartoon lovechild of
a cardboard box and a
puppy—called Boximals. The
company's strategy involves
targeting markets like Brazil
that are underserviced by
educational software, Jang
explains. "North America is
competitive," he says. "We're
not fans of throwing in a
huge amount of money and
competing with everyone
else. Generally, we're looking
for opportunities where we
can spend less." That frugal-
ity may have been inspired
by his mother, who he says
had a hard go of things finan-
cially when her husband
"bailed," leaving her to raise
two kids on her own. "I still
live at home to keep costs
down and hopefully pay her
back," Jang says.
Markers oF success:
The 15-person company,
with an office in Gastown,
has launched its games in
seven countries, partnered
with Microsoft (which paid
Boximals to create games
for its app store) and gener-
ated north of $1 million in
revenue since launching in
2013.
—Trevor Melanson
"Mark Cuban. He's very cutthroat,
but he knows what he wants"
Who insPires Me to succeed
bcbusiness.ca april 2015 BCBusiness 35
