In one sentence, what is your product/service?  

Sporting Mouth is a new multi-platform sports app that rewards users for testing their sporting judgment against friends, using stakes other than money and lets the world know the outcome.

What problem(s) does it solve?

It solves two problems. It enables sports fans to make peer-to-peer predictions on any device operating on iOS or Windows. Android is coming soon.

We are the first to offer this. It also provides sports fans with an alternative to gambling, as a way of exercising their sporting judgment. 

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What are your immediate goals?

To launch the business to multiple sporting audiences and establish a user base of around 150,000 users by the end of 2014.

What were the biggest challenges involved in building the tech or your team?

The biggest challenges we faced were delivering multiple applications and supporting infrastructure for a launch geared to a fairly immovable event, the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Not only did we have to develop an IOS app for launch but also a Windows phone and Windows 8 version (we have a very exciting collaboration with Microsoft), an ecommerce platform for fulfilling stakes, as well as creating and managing a global promotion for Nokia Lumia, currently running on Facebook.

Creating multiple user touch points that have to work first time out, required the co-ordination of dev teams in places as remote from one another as Buenos Aries and Birmingham. Thank goodness for Skype.

How will the company make money?

In addition to generating revenue from advertising and brand partner promotions, Sporting Mouth also makes money from the fulfilment of stake agreements made on the platform, market research and data services and retail sales of Sporting Mouth branded merchandise.

Unlike a lot of apps we have a very diversified income stream.

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Who is in your team?

Our team is lead by the two founders, John Owrid (Chairman) and Phil Harvey (CEO). In addition we have Peter Pedersen (CTO), Massi Delle Donne (Finance) , Chris Rendell (Project management) and Graham Martin (non-exec).

Where would you like to be in one, three and five years’ time?

We’re looking to create a global platform for sports fans to enjoy competitive predictions free of the issues and negative aspects of gambling.

In the first year we intend to establish this in most English speaking markets. By years 3 and 5 we intend to have extended this to all other parts of the world, with a particular focus on places where gambling isn’t allowed. 

Other than your own, what are your favorite websites / apps / tools?

We’re obviously impressed by apps that build on the sporting experience for fans.

Quiz Up and Sports Quest are impressive for the way they take the pub quiz into virtual sporting knowledge games and Q App, a new app that has been on trial at West Brom which allows users to pre-order (and pre-pay) for half-time drinks.