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Fluid Pixel Studios

Being a pioneer in an emerging technology is a daunting prospect for any company, let alone a start-up. But Stuart Varrall of Fluid Pixel Studios, pictured, is relishing the challenge. Not only is the 24-year-old quickly realising commercial success, he’s winning awards for his entrepreneurial skills.

His company, based in a University start-up unit, specialises in creating mobile phone games, screensavers and wallpapers using Adobe Flash Lite – a new generation technology with a high standard of visual effects. Since founding the company less than a year ago, Stuart and co-founder Paul Ivorra have already been approved by mobile phone giant Nokia to sell games and wallpapers through the company, and are hoping to secure similar agreements with other firms.

‘We are one of only a few British companies in this field’, said Stuart. ‘It’s challenging working with unproven new technology. But the download market is huge and the big firms are keen to adopt it.’

Stuart won a DigitalCity Fellowship in 2005, along with a prestigious Insight Out award from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA).

He has gone on to win national recognition through a Kauffman Entrepreneurship Fellowship, which will see him spend six months in the US working alongside like-minded IT experts, universities and thinkers.

‘I will continue building my portfolio in the US and look forward to making business contacts too’, he said. The Maidenhead-born businessman, who has always wanted to start his own digital media company, says that DigitalCity is the perfect environment for entrepreneurs, not just because of its business support, but because it provides direct access to the best talent on offer.

‘We’ve been working with Jeremiah Alexander of Babel Digital, who is based in the Victoria Building alongside us’, explains Stuart. ‘Being able to work together and bounce ideas off each other is really important in this business.’

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