HQ (Intermedia Labs) runs scheduled, push-notified trivia games at noon and 6pm Pacific that gather its community ("HQties") to answer 12 multiple-choice questions and split a cash prize. The app has scaled rapidly — TechCrunch notes growth from about 3,300 players in October to games that have seen roughly 2 million players competing for a $50,000 jackpot. HQ currently is not earning revenue, and the company faces frequent server overloads that force game postponements. The recent funding is intended primarily to improve engineering and stop crashes so players can reliably join scheduled games. Potential monetization strategies discussed include sponsored questions, product placement, paid extra lives, subscription “Champion’s Edition” games, themed and multimedia questions, mini-games for eliminated players, TV tie-ins, and international expansions. Co-founders Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll and host Scott Rogowski are highlighted as central to the product and brand. HQ is a live trivia game-show app created by former Vine co-founders Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll that runs twice-daily, scheduled multiplayer quizzes on iOS with a live host (Scott Rogowsky). Players answer around a dozen multiple-choice questions with a 10-second timer; correct players advance and winners split cash prizes paid out via PayPal. The app launched in late August and has been climbing the trivia charts, reaching roughly 3,300 concurrent players in one evening and growing to about 4,700 players in mid‑October; typical jackpots cited were around $150. HQ is built on the founders’ previous video projects at Intermedia Labs (Hype and Bounce) and emphasizes fast-loading live video and high production value. The team has tested sponsored games and other monetization experiments and sees paths like sponsored questions, prize giveaways, and ad breaks. Future product ideas discussed in the article include richer media questions, celebrity guests, in-chat badges, lightning rounds, and an Android app.

Total raised

$15M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Mar 2018