MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--STRIVR, the leader in immersive virtual reality (VR) training, announced a $16-million round of financing led by GreatPoint Ventures (GPV) to advance the company’s expansion into the enterprise market. With this investment, GPV Managing Partner Ray Lane also joined the company’s Board of Directors.
Immersive experiences are highlighted as one of Gartner's Top 10 technology trends for 2018 and beyond.1 Gartner predicts that “by 2021, 25% of large businesses in mature markets will pilot and deploy mixed reality (MR) solutions, from 1% today.”2 Leading this charge at scale is Walmart, as it works with STRIVR to roll out 17,000 Oculus Go’s for VR training to more than one million associates starting next month.
"In a world rapidly shifting to asset performance and predictive analytics, human capital has been largely ignored with outdated training and development tools," said Lane. "STRIVR offers companies like Walmart real-world, immersive experiences utilizing VR to place employees into their actual work environments to be trained, affecting their ability to drive both workforce development and retention."
A fast-growing list of enterprise customers including JetBlue, Fidelity, Tyson Foods and United Rentals are also working with STRIVR to innovate and transform employee learning. Results from these innovations are being realized quickly, as evidenced by Tyson Foods in its general safety/hazard awareness training. In the initial pilot, the company experienced a more than 20% reduction in injuries and illnesses compared to the year prior, with 89% of learners saying they felt more prepared after VR training.3
“This is a critical time at STRIVR and we are beyond-excited about GreatPoint Ventures’ investment,” said Derek Belch, CEO, STRIVR. “Ray and his team bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to help us effectively operate at scale as we expand in the enterprise space – and we're humbled by the belief in our team and our winning approach to helping customers take learning and training to new heights.”
To support STRIVR’s growing base of customers, the company has now also opened offices in New York, Seattle, and Nashville, TN in addition to its existing offices in Los Angeles and Menlo Park, CA.
1 Gartner, Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2018, Oct 3 2017 - ID G00327329
2 Gartner, Predicts 2018: Immersive Technologies and Devices Will Transform Personal and Business Interactions, Dec 15 2017 - ID G00343252
3 HR Dive, Tyson Foods reduces worker injuries, illnesses with VR safety training, Sept 18 2018
About GreatPoint Ventures
GreatPoint Ventures invests in early-stage companies solving problems that transform industries. From enterprise software to healthcare to life sciences, GreatPoint invests where it can add a meaningful advantage through its operational experience, network, and passion for building companies. The firm was founded in 2015 and is led by former Oracle President, Ray Lane, serial entrepreneur, Andrew Perlman and former Juniper Networks EVP, Ashok Krishnamurthi. GreatPoint Ventures is based in San Francisco, CA.
About STRIVR
STRIVR transforms the way organizations train and develop their employees, using virtual reality (VR) to simulate real-world, on-the-job scenarios for enhanced learning. Leading Fortune 500 companies and elite sports organizations use STRIVR’s immersive training platform to create highly engaging experiences for fast, consistent and effective results. Incubated in conjunction with Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab, STRIVR uses proven research in cognitive science and human behavior to increase engagement, performance and retention. STRIVR VR experiences deliver a compelling ROI: higher productivity, lower training costs and better job performance. For more information, visit www.strivr.com.
