Our team of scientists, engineers, and gaming experts joined forces with the vision of bringing improved user experience and better advertising formats to the digital world. The technology was not created for a specific brand.

PlayCaptcha solves not one, but three problems on the web:

1. Frustrating user experience of Captchas, especially on touch-screen devices

2. Brands continuously challenged to be noticed and engage people online

3. Website owners require new revenue streams

The power of gamification informed the PlayCaptcha technology. Whilst other companies have branded Captchas, for example asking users to type in taglines, none provide a fully gamified brand experience. It is this physical interaction within a gamified experience that drives recall rates and makes PlayCaptcha a new innovation.

The complexity of PlayCaptcha lies in the need for it to be as simple as possible for users, and compatible across all devices and browsers. PlayCaptcha is built using HTML and JavaScript. It is compatible with 95% of browsers.

The verification process works by embedding multiple layers of security to ensure each PlayCaptcha is successfully completed by a human. The technology is designed to identify and monitor behavioural norms of humans and bots, so that any irregularities create an alert.

Each PlayCaptcha is UX tested and iterated throughout the build to ensure the brand message is clearly communicated. We leverage data before campaign launch to minimise wastage and maximise results.

Our proprietary tech stack combines data management, performance metrics, optimisation, reporting dashboards and a creative framework. This gives us complete control over ad delivery across screens and devices.

To ensure scalable integrated delivery, we nurture our partnerships with premium publishers to ensure high quality inventory spanning mobile, tablet and desktop environments.

We raised an initial $1m in seed funding in 2013 and will raise Series A in 2014.

We expect PlayCaptcha’s development to continue accelerating. Our goal is to create a world-changing technology that influences the digital advertising industry. With 110bn Captchas completed a year, we believe PlayCaptcha will soon be the Captcha of choice.

Development is focused on scaling our technology; incorporating standard ad formats (such as video) into our PlayCaptchas. Taking a brand-focused approach to targeting: we are building a complete suite of targeting solutions to enable advertisers to reach unique audience segments across multiple screens and channels.

The long-term goal is to build a state-of-the-art open platform which brands can plug into to create a gamified ad and distribute it across our network.

Over 2m PlayCaptchas have been completed to date with an average success rate of 92% (standard Captcha is 75%), and 91% of people preferred PlayCaptcha to a standard Captcha test. Third party research shows 90% of people recalled the brand in the PlayCaptcha, and that 7/10 agreed that PlayCaptcha was more engaging than any other form of advertising. This proves that PlayCaptcha is a breakthrough technology that enables brands to communicate with their customers in a new way. High profile clients include: BBC, ITV, Nestle, Renault, Sky, Reckitt Benckiser and Heinz.