Ouya seeks quick sale as debts mount

Android micro-console manufacturer Ouya is looking to quickly find a buyer that can absorb the company's mounting debt.

Ouya initially raised $15m in funds from investors, but then quietly added another $10m to its money pot from venture debt company TriplePoint Capital.

That's on top of its mammoth $8.5m haul from the gadget's successful Kickstarter campaign.

Now, in a confidential email leaked to Fortune.com, the extent of Ouya's finances (or lack thereof) has become clear.

The internal document, penned by company CEO Julie Uhrman, explained that recent debt restructuring negotiations had been unsuccessful and that Ouya now needed to find a buyer fast.

"Given our debtholder's timeline, the process will be quick. We are looking for expressions of interest by the end of this month," Uhrman wrote.

"Our focus now is trying to recover as much investor capital as possible."

It's not the first time that Ouya has sought to be purchased. Last autumn the company reportedly held early talks with several Chinese technology companies and reached out to fellow Android champions Amazon and Google.

After an initial spike of attention, Ouya has struggled to hold consumer interest. But the company has attempted to turn its fortunes around, and last year launched the poorly-received Free The Games match-funding initiative, which became mired in accusations that dodgy developers were exploiting the scheme to double funds from dubious Kickstarter campaigns.

Ouya then tried to profit from tie-ups with MadCatz's Mojo micro-console and with various Smart TVs and set-top boxes. But again it has been unsuccessful in reigniting interest.

"We believe we've built something real and valuable," Uhrman concluded.

"I continue to read the tweets and emails of our fans who play Ouya every day, and our catalogue is now over 1000 apps and 40,000 developers. We have the largest library of Android content for the TV (still more than Amazon) - hells ya!"