As the conversation about Ouya–the $99 console is heating up on the web, so does its financial backing. The much talked about gaming console has managed to raise as much as $2.3 million from the backers, and working in full swing to bring the console on the shelves as soon as possible. The San Francisco-based company–Ouya, launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding project to raise money for its upcoming console, for which nearly 19,000 people backed at the time of writing, and with 28 days still to go. Wow!

Ouya is targeting to launch the console in the first quarter of 2013, along with a software development kit (SDK) for the developers. This will allow developers to make money from their games in any way they want, giving them full freedom due to its open, hacker-friendly ethos.

“It’s a new kind of game console for the TV that embraces the openness of mobile and Internet platforms,” said Julie Uhrman, the founder and chief executive of the company. Some portion of the game has to be free as a benefit for consumers. We believe this is the people’s console.”

Ouya will also run an app store along with selling the console, which will be open to any developer who would like to make a game for it. Of course, Ouya will be handling the moderation, promotion, curation, and general store management.

“It is a solid value proposition for developers and consumers. It can do content that isn’t [on] any other platform. It’s a shame that developers are leaving triple-A shops and going to mobile. There is a brain drain in the console game business,” said Uhrman.

Everything right from the concept, device, and strategy sound good, but what’s important here is that how well Ouya identifies its target customers, creates and implements product selling strategies. Most importantly, the challenge before the company would be to mail down a strategy to sell its product before giants like Sony and Microsoft present their upcoming gaming consoles, which are expected to come soon.