Launched in 2011, Sea Monster uses gaming as a vehicle for change. Over the past 15 years, with over R16m invested from growth funding partner Edge Growth across multiple funds, they have made serious waves, and their achievements stand as a source of immense pride.
As a small business development specialist, Edge Growth invests capital and provides post-investment support to unlock the growth of high-potential SMEs across South Africa. As an investor, Sea Monster develops games, simulations and interactive digital experiences that equip future entrepreneurs with the mindset and skills to start up.
Glenn Gillis – Co-Founder and CEO of Sea Monster
Edge Growth and Sea Monster share a commitment to scaling entrepreneurship, a deep belief that it is one of the most powerful levers for economic transformation in Southern Africa and recognizing that the biggest challenge is not identifying entrepreneurs, but equipping them.
Given these great achievements, Sea Monster is certainly establishing itself as one of the world's leading voices in using game-based learning to build entrepreneurial skills at scale.
Sea Monster has been announced by The King's Trust International as its partner to redesign and build its large-scale enterprise games. It will be deployed across six Commonwealth countries, bringing Sea Monster's uniquely African approach to game-based entrepreneurship education onto a truly global stage.
“We couldn't be happier with our collaboration with Sea Monster. From the start, they invested the time to understand not only the goals of the project and the ambition of the charity, but importantly the realities of what it is designed to empower young people. They brought creativity, momentum and real energy to the process, and we're excited to see the transformative impact this game will have when it goes live,” says Jo Parsons, Director of Delivery and Impact at King's International Trust.
The King's Trust is one of the world's leading impact organizations with entrepreneurship as a central mission.
South Africa's youth unemployment rate is approximately 45.5% – one of the highest in the world. Traditional education systems have not kept pace with the scale of the problem, and traditional vocational training remains theoretical, expensive, and often inaccessible to the communities who need it most. Sea Monsters was built on the belief that games are uniquely positioned to change this.
Games work as entrepreneurship tools because they are:
- Data-driven: Every interaction produces measurable learning outcomes, allowing teachers and partners to track real skill development rather than relying solely on test scores.
- Engage deeply: Players spend extended, voluntary time in the learning environment – not because they have to, but because they want to
- A Safe Place to Fail: In a game, failure has no real-world consequences. Players can test strategies, make mistakes, learn from them, and try again – a freedom that is especially valuable to youth in communities where the cost of failure in real life is very high.
- Systems thinker: Good games teach players an understanding of cause-and-effect, resource management, and strategic decision making – precisely the systems thinking that entrepreneurship demands.
In much of Africa, the choice of entrepreneurship is often driven by necessity, with limited support systems, high barriers to entry, and limited access to funding and networks. Because of this, entrepreneurship education tools cannot be easily adapted from Western models. They should be designed for local realities, mobile-first, able to work offline, culturally relevant and affordable. It is this design approach that underpins how Sea Monster creates its solutions.
When first founded, using sports as a practical catalyst for change was still a fairly new idea. But Sea Monster, backed by funding partner Edge Growth, believed that with a mission to scale and unlock the potential of Sea Monster's solutions globally, they could compete with the best in the world. And that is exactly what they have done.
Sea Monster's work in the entrepreneurship education space spans financial services, non-profits, and global partnerships – each project demonstrating what's possible when game design meets genuine social intent.
Some of his other influential and 'game changing' partnerships include:
- In partnership with the Alan Gray Orbis Foundation, Sea Monster developed AGEC, a mobile-first business simulation game that reached more than 10,800 players in four countries, achieved a 74.4% completion rate, increased business valuation knowledge by 448% and earned international awards.
- With Nedbank, the team created Chow Town on Roblox, the first African banking experience on the platform, attracting 1.5 million young South Africans, earning 81% positive ratings, and introducing multiplayer gameplay.
- For Lemonade Day USA, Sea Monster created My Lemonade Day, a digital companion app that transforms the youth entrepreneurship program for ages 5-13, supporting financial literacy and enabling scalable program delivery.
The King's Trust International partnership is a milestone, but it also sends some broader signals: entrepreneurship education is a global challenge, and solutions can be developed locally.
About Sea Monster
Sea Monster is a South African impact game studio specializing in games for learning and games for marketing. The studio designs and builds interactive digital experiences for financial services institutions, nonprofit organizations, and global impact partners. Sea Monster's work spans Roblox, mobile-first browser games and mobile apps, with a particular focus on entrepreneurship education, financial literacy and large-scale behavior change.
About age growth
Edge Growth is one of South Africa's leading venture capital and SME fund managers, with over R2 billion of assets under management. Established in 2007, the firm manages a portfolio of SME development and enterprise supplier development funds on behalf of leading corporate and institutional investors, providing both capital and post-investment support to high-growth businesses across South Africa. Edge Growth's mission is to foster inclusive economic growth and job creation by supporting entrepreneurs who build the businesses of the future.