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Josh Moody’s Overwatch Headed to San Francisco for TechCrunch ‘Disrupt’

2 min read

Innovate Arkansas client firm and ARK Challenge alumni startup Overwatch will participate in the prominent national tech conference TechCrunch Disrupt next week in San Francisco.

Disrupt 2014 runs Sept. 8-10 at Pier 48 overlooking San Francisco Bay.

Overwatch is the Bentonville-based startup that won $150,000 in funding at the 2013 ARK Challenge startup accelerator. The idea for Overwatch was hatched in 2013 by then-Catholic High School senior Josh Moody, who teamed with Joe Saumweber and Michael Paladino of Bentonville digital products firm and IA client firm RevUnit to launch the startup at the ARK.

The Overwatch app integrates features from combat video games into real-life airsoft, paintball and laser tag matches, as suggested by the company tagline: “It’s game time. For real.”

The fully completed Overwatch iOS app is expected to receive final approval from Apple and be available for download in the app store any day, Moody said. A version for Android is in the works.

Overwatch software includes GPS radar, in-game perks such as enemy radar jam, voice chat, command center controls, and even statistics and player profiles.

The app is free to download and in-game perks can be purchased for what Moody said would typically amount to about $4 a year. Plus, the updated Overwatch website now supports an online forum.

Overwatch hardware includes the mounts that enable players to access the app through their smartphones. Last year, Overwatch partnered with CyberGun, a major international airsoft gun distributor, to make its mounts available at online gaming stores. Overwatch plans to market an armband mount for $9.99 and a rail mount for guns for $14.99.

Moody hopes to finalize deals with Wal-Mart, Academy Sports and Cabella’s that would place Overwatch products on retail shelves, perhaps sometime next year. He said the updated hardware is ready for the manufacturing stage. 

Moody represented Overwatch on Thursday as part of the 2014 summer ARK Challenge startup accelerator Demo Day at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, the same spot where he pitched Overwatch and was named a winner at the 2013 ARK.

Overwatch and Qbox, another IA client firm, each made ARK alumni startup presentations. Qbox, a search and analytics service based in Fayetteville, was a winner at the 2012 ARK Challenge. Founder Mark Brandon said Qbox, formerly known as StackSearch, now has more than 700 customers including some well-known international companies. 

Moody said Overwatch is attempting to tap a market that includes 700 million video gamers and 25 million airsoft and paintball users.

Moody deferred college to become Overwatch’s full-time CEO. He and Paladino, who serves as CTO of Overwatch, will represent the company in San Francisco.

Moody and Paladino will present as part of Disrupt’s Startup Alley on the conference’s opening day.

“Disrupt will put us in front of a lot of eyeballs and help us make industry and investor connections,” Paladino said. “It will open us up to a bigger world.”  

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