Top app drawn up by comic-crazed youth

Erick Guo left Asia's largest Internet company last year to build a team of artists and engineers who could create smartphone applications inspired by Japanese comics. The 25-year-old and his team ended up with China's hottest app last month and are working on their next hit.

The free app, called MYOTee, lets people design avatars, or digital images, of themselves and friends that can be used for instant messaging or on social networks. It soared to the top of the Apple Inc and Google Inc Android app stores in China in June, with its software downloaded 36 million times.

Guo, who had previously worked at China Web giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, developed the app by inviting Hong Kong T-shirt artist Peter Lee to join the team and create digital versions of his designs. With backing from venture firms such as IDG Capital Partners, Guo's team at Lemon Tech is now seeking to follow up MYOTee's success with other new products such as mobile games.