Ouya Devs Deny Seeking Alternative Sources of Funding

Ouya clears up the rumor about the company seeking venture capitalist funding on top of Kickstarter, which really isn't the case.

Indie console Ouya, now sitting on $5 million in funds, is clearly the latest Kickstarter darling. However, for all the praise that Ouya is getting, it's catching a fair share of flak from critics who are dubious of what Ouya promises to bring to the table.

The most recent criticisms being slung around include comments that Ouya founder Julie Uhrman made about the Ouya's funding in an interview. She stated that though Ouya does have a Kickstarter, the company was also looking for alternative sources of funding, which didn't exactly inspire confidence with its Kickstarter donors.

Today, the company put out a statement declaring the opposite; Ouya would not be looking for additional funds outside of Kickstarter:

"Let me be clear, Ouya is not seeking additional funding outside of Kickstarter. Our priority now is to continue to focus on building a great game console while engaging in our ongoing Kickstarter campaign. Our intent in going to Kickstarter was to raise money that would take us from functional prototype to product on the market.

With respect to our funding, we have been candid in disclosing an early round raised through friends and family that included backing from investors like Digg founder Jay Adelson, Flixster founder Joe Greenstein, and Jawbone founder Hosain Rahman.

We do not intend to engage in any conversations related to funding while we are on Kickstarter.  And, it's not like we are going to start speed dialing VCs as soon as the Kickstarter campaign ends.  Once our Kickstarter campaign closes funding our priority will be getting Ouya to market, and delivering the best game experience possible.  Fundraising will not be top of the list.

Unfortunately, I think this rumor sprung from a misunderstood answer during an interview and we are trying to contact the reporter to clarify."

From the interview, it seems pretty clear that the statement the company issued retracted what Uhrman had said on the record. However, the context of the interview is important. Apparently, the interview had taken place before the Ouya went live on Kickstarter, making it understandable why Uhrman was still weighing the option of taking the project to venture capitalists.