Karthik Bala

Karthik Bala is the CEO and Cofounder of independent gaming studio, Velan Studios, in Troy, NY and a partner with Velan Ventures, an innovation investment firm.

Known for starting Vicarious Visions, an Activision-owned game studio that grew to more than 150 employees, Velan Studios and Velan Ventures are Karthik’s next big ventures.

Vicarious Visions worked on more than 100 games, including big console releases like Guitar Hero, Skylanders Swap Force, and Skylanders Superchargers. The company’s games sold as many as 40-50 million units, and generated billions in sales. Karthik and his brother, Guha Bala, started the company in 1991 when they were 15 and 14-years-old. Their first office was in their parents’ basement. Vicarious Visions was sold to Activision Publishing in 2005.

Karthik graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Psychology. He received an MBA from the MIT School of Management.

Karthik also holds several US Software, and Hardware and Design patents including:

Device and method for a streaming video game;
System and method for purchasing toys and corresponding virtual toys;
Video Game Portal;
Video game Pick Stylus; and
Tablet Portal