Table of Contents
When and how did you start?
“We commenced operations officially in April 2015 with just 2 missions and a limited budget as we were walking through untested waters. Little did we imagine that this concept will be a huge success across a wide range of audiences without any marketing efforts” , Says Founder Mr Mothi Hareesh.
How did you come up with the idea? Your inspiration moment
On one of my travels to Poland in 2014, I decided to seek out something innovative and exciting. My motivation landed me in an escape game where I found myself trying to defuse a ticking time bomb in a nerve-biting 60 minutes.
I was hooked on this genre of real-life gaming ever since. Playing game after game, the concept set in slowly but deeply within me. I was fascinated with the thought of how games could help build teams, unify people and foster a strong bond among people.
” After playing a dozen escape games around the world, I realized that the concept needs a betterment.Escape games as a concept were focused on solving challenges to escape from the room. Most, if not all, escape games do not have the clues synchronized with the storyline. It was about opening locks and not about living a character.That is how the FIRST and ONLY escape game to provide a holistic movie-styled experience was conceptualized”, Says Mr Hareesh.
Brief about the organization and founding members
About Breakout:
Founded in 2015, one of the first Escape Game facilities in India was set-up at Bangalore. Breakout®, India’s official Escape Games, brings to you India’s only “Movie-styled Escape experience“, wherein you, along with your team, immersive yourselves in your dream characters to embark on an exciting adventure filled with fun and mystery.
About the Founder:
Before founding Breakout(R), Hareesh was a Risk Management Expert (Treasury, International Tax and Finance) at Hewlett Packard (HP). Prior to joining HP, Hareesh established and lead the Strategy and Consulting Group at M/s. Guru & Jana, Chartered Accountants. Hareesh worked in the Assurance division of Deloitte Haskins & Sells, Chennai prior to his relocation to Bangalore. Hareesh has over 9 years of experience in various fields including accounts, audit, business advisory, consulting, financial analysis and business valuation. He secured All India Ranks in various stages in the Chartered Accountancy and Company Secretaries Program. He is also a CFA® Charterholder.
He is a guest faculty for certain finance subjects at EduPristine & Superwhizz. He has over four years of experience in training students and professionals on various finance domains right from basics of finance to complex topics such as derivatives and valuation.
He also runs a not-for-profit ‘Happy Lives Organization’ with his family that focuses on educating rural children and rehabilitating women. His NGO has created a positive impact on the lives of thousands of villagers across Tiruchirappalli.
His passions include travelling and swimming.
The detailed journey, like what all you want to share with readers.
A decade-long professional success drove to try my hands at something totally different – Entrepreneurship. I was always an adventurer and thrill seeker.
The idea of starting my own venture that’s unique always played at the back of my mind since 2011. I would constantly be on the lookout for something that was exciting but at the same time could be of great value to people and something unique.
I started realizing that the potential that a truly immersive experience can actually provide to the world at large. Thankful for my experience as a trainer over 4 years.
The potential to make money and at the same time influence lives, drove me to take the bold step of venturing into troubled waters.
However, my decision to quit my cushy job with a hefty salary, promotions, numerous opportunities and achievements wasn’t easy by any standards. I was choosing uncertainty over certainty. This became the most difficult decision of my life – To ‘let go’ of everything I had stood for in my professional life for over a decade to pursue my calling.
With support from friends and family, I decided to take a bold step with absolutely no knowledge of anything I was about to do then. Looking forward, I feel this is one of the best decisions in my life….
Video Credit/Source: Breakout
About funding, plans for growth
We are open to strategic investors with a focus on growth hacking and building new and exciting offerings through escape games. Our plan is to expand through a well-built franchise network around the country. We aim to grow to have 10 new centres in the next 12 months.
Challenges and Opportunities/ Marketing Strategies
Challenges:
Since we were pioneers of this concept in India, we faced a number of challenges right from finding reliable vendors to building awareness about this concept. This concept, though looks pretty simple at the outset, we faced challenges in building a team of Game Development Experts (currently in the US) to conceptualize the game before bringing it to reality.
Opportunities:
Who does not like to do something fun, mysterious and challenging… all at the same time? Our success over the years has given us the required impetus to enter into the premium experiences segment.
PREMIUM BIRTHDAY PARTIES FOR 5 YEARS ONWARDS
We are the only escape game company that hosts premium birthday parties for ages 5 onwards. The kids get to travel through an adventurous journey in a mystical forest to find treasure.
Parents have begun to embrace this activity for their child as they feel proud seeing their child excited and knowing that their child has a very novel experience.
Future plans and funding
Breakout, being the only escape game that has a strong connection with the storyline, plans to venture into the Learning & Development space using its uniquely designed rooms.
A NOVEL CORPORATE TRAINING PROGRAM in the offering:
Through our uniquely designed escape games, we have been able to successfully drive learnings to thousands of corporate employees.
As Kanika Passi, The Regional Training Manager of Jubilant Foodworks found the experience totally novel and transformative. This is what she had to say, “While having a whole lot of fun, the team took away phenomenal learnings on the importance of teamwork, communication, listening, managing stress under a timeline, etc. The biggest thing is each one of us experiences the game differently and these learnings keep coming back as we deal with our day-to-day challenges.
A great fun-based, economical, team-building exercise. A must do for all corporates!“
The highly immersive and simulation of experiences in real-life like environment provides the perfect environment to conduct experiential learning and soft skill enhancement programs.
A quote from the founder on the journey, or dealing with the challenge, or any inspiring moment
Prasanna had gone through medical emergencies, hospitalizations and surgeries for over 2 years. The entire family was rattled with deep anxiety and stress due to the constant uncertainty and threat that surrounded Prasanna’s life.
Prasanna’s daughter, Supritha, decided to gift him an adventure at Breakout for his 72nd birthday. Inspired by Sherlock Holmes, they decided to pursue an investigation of a crime scene. As they indulged in the mystery, the real world had disappeared, along with it their troubles of the near past, as they frantically search for and deciphering clues. Five months later, Prasanna and his family still feel their experience at Breakout is still “fresh and liberating”.
Prasanna represents thousands of people who have experienced a liberating and a fulfilling time at Breakout. The path, as an entrepreneur, that needs to be travelled may not be always easy. But, these are the kind of experiences that make the journey a meaningful and fulfilling one, motivating us to strive harder to reach our goals.
EXCLUSIVE: Founder’s advice to budding entrepreneurs
There is nothing new I could add to the existing wisdom.
Through this adventure, I have realized that “Only passionate people can build new things..” Since the journey as an entrepreneur is not always easy, Why would you have to put up through hardship if you don’t believe in or love what you do? So, if you have a dream, chase it. Do all it takes to make it a reality… The joy is not just in achieving your dreams, but also in the learnings that helps shape you as an individual for the years to come.
Provide some statistics like revenues or clients Acquisitions
>1 Million Gaming Minutes.
Average customer experience > 4.70/5.00 based on 850+ reviews.
>52 Nationalities.
#1 on TripAdvisor.
Your website / apps / and contact details
Website – www.breakout.in
Contact Details – 9535305656
