HQ Trivia App Co-Founder Found Dead in New York, NYPD Says

(Bloomberg) -- Colin Kroll, the co-founder and chief executive officer of the HQ Trivia quiz app, has been found dead in New York. He was 34.

A representative for the New York City Police Department said Kroll was found unconscious and unresponsive early Sunday morning. Emergency medical services responded to 56 Spring Street following a wellness check and soon after pronounced him dead, Detective Ahmed Nasser of the NYPD said.

Drugs were found on the premises, the NYPD said. Police are waiting for a medical examiner to determine the cause of death, Nasser said.

The company didn’t immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comment. It released a tweet confirming his death.

Kroll, who helped co-found the startup in 2015, was named CEO of the wildly popular quiz app in September. He took over for Rus Yusupov, who moved into a role as chief creative officer. Before starting HQ, Kroll helped found Vine, the short-format video startup that was bought by Twitter.

The HQ trivia app became a viral sensation last year when it garnered more than 1 million users who competed for cash prizes by correctly answering trivia questions. The game is hosted by Scott Rogowsky and the company had recently announced themed trivia games and a new words game.

Users can usually tune in twice a day to play and cash prizes are split between all who correctly answer multiple-choice questions in under 10 seconds. A special New Year’s Eve episode last year had a cash prize of $18,000. The company has raised $15 million since its founding, according to Crunchbase.

(Adds details from the police in the third paragraph and tweets throughout.)

--With assistance from Zoya Khan.

To contact the reporter on this story: Vildana Hajric in New York at vhajric1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Matthew G. Miller, Virginia Van Natta

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