Helping build better digital and coding skills is the top priority for Lachlan James as the first Chief Marketing Officer at edtech firm Game-U.

James joined the business this month as its inaugural marketing chief, responsible for overseeing all of Game-U's marketing and communication functions. Game-U is a US-based EdTech firm, offering extracurricular programs and curriculums that help K-12 aged students. Its goal is to transform the next generation's love of gaming into valuable STEAM skills to help create tomorrow's software engineers, game developers and designers.

Whilst Game-U was established 11 years ago, and has experienced growth over that time, its marketing function has largely been coordinated through agencies. The CMO role is a new position, designed to bring dedicated in-house leadership and focus to help drive Game-U through its next growth phase. James reports to CEO and Founder, Michael Kawas.

Before starting Game-U in 2013, Kawas worked as an artist and art director in the video game industry. Mike has shipped many highly successful titles including Star Wars: The Force Unleashed I & II for LucasArts, Sly Cooper 4: Thieves in Time for Sony, X-Men 3: The Official Game for Activision, Aggressive Inline for Acclaim, and Test Drive Off-Road 3 for Accolade to name a few.

Prior to joining Game-U, James spent three years at Vivanti Consulting as a marketing advisor. He also spent three years as the CMO of VisualCortex, and 18 months as CMO of Operoo, rising up from head of content and communications. His resume also includes senior marketing and communications roles with Linius Technologies, Camms IT consulting firm and Yellowfin BI.

James told Mi3 there were two big reasons why he was keen to take up the role and remit.

"Future generations need better digital and coding skills, but it's clear that better learning opportunities need to be available to meet this demand. Game-U exists to help bridge this gap. As it stands now, according to a National Skills Coalition study, 92% of jobs already require digital skills, yet one-third of workers lack the skills necessary to thrive in today's job market," he said.

"During the pandemic, I worked for Australian EdTech start-up, Operoo (formerly CareMonkey). I helped the company grow its business in the US K-12 education system, which eventually saw it successfully acquired by US-based EdTech firm SchoolStatus in 2021. I enjoyed the experience of working for a company that helped schools focus on delivering better educational outcomes. When Peter Bencivenga - an investor in both SchoolStatus and Game-U - approached me regarding Game-U's inaugural CMO role, I was excited. It represented an excellent opportunity to once again align my professional efforts with a similar objective. It's a pleasure to get out of bed to help deliver socially useful outcomes, which extend beyond the traditional bottom line."

According to James, Game-U is entering a particularly exciting phase in its growth. Up until recently, much of its success has come through two main avenues. First, engaging directly with parents of K-12 aged students, and secondly working with Support Coordinators and Support Brokers to help them understand how families with special needs can use self-directed budgets, including Medicaid funding, towards Game-U-developed courses.

"However, Game-U is now also working with educators to deliver its courses as extracurricular options through schools and districts. Having three clear avenues to market represents an excellent opportunity for Game-U to scale its operations further heading into 2025," he said.

As to learnings from his career to date that hold him good stead for Game-U, James pointed to his breadth of company experience first up.

"At a high level, holding Head of Marketing roles for Australian, global and publicly listed tech companies, has given me valuable insights into the journeys undertaken, challenges encountered, and building blocks required to scale successfully," he said.

"At a more granular level, working for technology companies in the education sector specifically has helped me understand the unique balance of marketing tactics and messaging needed to thrive in an industry that uniquely includes both B2C and B2B components."

* With additional reporting by Nadia Cameron