FUN Technologies

Lore & Background

FUN Technologies was founded in 2002 by Lorne Abony and Andrew Rivkin. It quickly became one of the fastest-growing companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange, raising over $160 million in five rounds of equity financings, including its IPO, and completing eight strategic acquisitions for a total of $128 million. In March 2006, American media giant Liberty Media acquired FUN in a transaction valuing the company at $484 million.

In September 2006, FUN Technologies held a competition with a $1 million grand prize to find the 'world's best casual gamer.' The competition had 70 contestants and featured the games Bejeweled 2, Solitaire, and Zuma. The top prize was awarded to Kavitha Yalavarthi (now Kavitha Shah) of Odessa, Texas, making her the first esports millionaire and the top female esports earner to date.

FUN acquired SkillJam in 2005 and WorldWinner in 2005, merging SkillJam into WorldWinner.com in 2007 and dropping the SkillJam brand. In December 2007, Liberty Media acquired FUN Technologies, leading to the integration of WorldWinner with the Liberty-owned Game Show Network and the discontinuation of the FUN Technologies brand.

Reader's Guide

FUN Technologies played a pivotal role in the early commercialization of online casual gaming and fantasy sports, achieving rapid growth and a high-profile acquisition by Liberty Media. Its 2006 competition, awarding $1 million to Kavitha Yalavarthi, is historically significant as it created the first recognized esports millionaire and highlighted the potential for prize-based gaming to generate substantial earnings. The company's strategy of acquiring established platforms like SkillJam and WorldWinner consolidated the casual gaming market and demonstrated the viability of skill-based games for cash prizes. By integrating these assets into Liberty Media's Game Show Network, FUN's legacy influenced the convergence of casual gaming with traditional media. The company's brief but intense trajectory—from founding in 2002 to brand discontinuation in 2007—illustrates the rapid consolidation and monetization of online gaming in the mid-2000s.

Did You Know?

• In September 2006, FUN held a competition with a $1 million grand prize, won by Kavitha Yalavarthi, making her the first esports millionaire.
• FUN completed eight strategic acquisitions for a total consideration of $128 million.
• Liberty Media acquired FUN in March 2006 in a transaction valuing the company at $484 million.

Founding & Rise to Prominence

FUN Technologies emerged from Toronto in 2002, the brainchild of Canadian entrepreneurs Lorne Abony and Andrew Rivkin. What began as a modest online gaming venture quickly scaled into something remarkable: the world's largest provider of online casual games and fantasy sports, amassing more than 35 million registered customers. The company's ascent to public markets was swift and impressive. A full listing on the London Stock Exchange arrived in 2003, followed by a Toronto Stock Exchange listing in 2004. At the time of that TSX debut, Abony held the chief executive officer role, a distinction that made him the youngest CEO of any company listed on the exchange. The trajectory from a two-founder startup to a globally recognized digital entertainment platform with tens of millions of users in just a couple of years underscored the explosive demand for accessible, browser-based gaming and fantasy sports in the early 2000s.

Financial Momentum & Strategic Acquisitions

FUN Technologies etched its name into the history books of the Toronto Stock Exchange as one of the fastest-growing companies the market had ever seen. In a span of fewer than three years, the firm secured more than $160 million across five rounds of equity financings, a tally that included its initial public offering. That capital fueled an aggressive acquisition strategy: eight strategic purchases were completed for a combined consideration of $128 million, each deal expanding FUN's game library, technology stack, or user base. The culmination of this growth arc came in March 2006, when American media conglomerate Liberty Media agreed to acquire the company in a transaction that valued FUN at $484 million. For a Toronto-based startup barely four years old, that exit represented a stunning validation of the online casual gaming and fantasy sports model that Abony and Rivkin had built from the ground up.

The Million-Dollar Casual Gaming Tournament

In September 2006, FUN Technologies staged what was arguably the most high-profile casual gaming event of its era: a competition offering a $1 million grand prize to whoever could claim the title of world's best casual gamer. Seventy-one contestants competed across a lineup of popular titles, including Bejeweled 2, Solitaire, and Zuma. The crown ultimately went to Kavitha Yalavarthi, a young woman from Odessa, Texas, who would later be known as Kavitha Shah. Her victory made history on two fronts simultaneously. She became the first person ever to earn a million dollars through competitive gaming in any category, earning the distinction of the first esports millionaire. She also set a record as the top female esports earner to that point. The tournament spotlighted casual gaming as a legitimate competitive discipline and demonstrated that skill-based browser games could generate the same spectacle and prize-pool excitement traditionally reserved for hardcore esports.

Absorption into Liberty Media & the End of the Brand

The FUN Technologies brand ultimately did not survive its parent company's broader media strategy. In December 2007, Liberty Media completed its acquisition of FUN, a move that set in motion the integration of FUN's assets into Liberty's existing portfolio. The company's most significant platform, WorldWinner, a Newton, Massachusetts-based tournament games site founded in 1999 by Alex Bloom, Alex Ganelis, and Daniil Utin, was folded into Liberty's Game Show Network. Prior to that integration, FUN had already merged its earlier acquisition, SkillJam, originally EGamesGroup, founded in 1999 by Justin Beckett, Michael Raeford, and Mark Elfenbein, into the WorldWinner.com platform in 2007, retiring the SkillJam name entirely. With WorldWinner absorbed into Game Show Network, the FUN Technologies name was formally discontinued, ending the independent existence of a company that had once boasted over 35 million registered users and a $484 million valuation.