Football’s latest star is a VR startup.
In an initial funding round, Strivr Labs Inc raised $5 million towards expansion across sports and the workplace, according to the Wall Street Journal.
From Stanford Football to a Startup
Founded by former Stanford University football player and assistant coach Derek Belch, and Jeremy Bailenson of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Strivr provides training tools for professional and college football teams.
According to Strivr’s own history, the company was founded in 2015 out of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab, where Belch, then a graduate student and football coach, set out to prove that VR could improve performance. Bailenson’s lab studies how people respond to virtual experiences, which gave the idea a research foundation rather than just a sports gimmick.
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How the Training Works
Using proprietary software and virtual-reality headsets such as Facebook’s Oculus Rift and Samsung Electronics Co.’s Gear VR, the company gives football players the ability to run plays and scenarios as if they’re in the middle of play. Current customers include seven professional teams, 13 college teams, and one high school team.
The appeal for coaches is extra practice without extra physical wear. A quarterback can go through the same read again and again, seeing the field from their own point of view, without anyone getting hit. That kind of repetition is hard to get on a real practice field, where time and players’ bodies are both limited.
From the Stadium to the Boardroom
Can they leverage this VR product from the stadium to the boardroom? Strivr’s funders are saying yes.
The funding, led by Menlo Park, California-based Signia Venture Partners, will allow Strivr to expand its software applications to corporate customers for VR-based training programs designed to help improve reaction time and decision-making in customer service scenarios.
Strivr is profitable and has an estimated valuation of $20 million to $33 million, according to Signia VC founding partner Zaw Thet, who will take a board seat.
The Walmart Deal
The bet on corporate training paid off quickly. Strivr began working with Walmart to bring VR training to the retailer’s 200 “Walmart Academy” training centres, using PC-tethered Oculus Rift headsets. In September 2018, TechCrunch reported that Walmart was going much further, sending Oculus Go headsets to each of its nearly 5,000 stores: four to each supercenter and two to each Neighborhood Market, about 17,000 headsets by the end of that year.
That move mattered for the whole VR training market. Standalone headsets like the Oculus Go didn’t need a computer to run, so a store could simply be sent a few and start training staff. Strivr’s site lists other enterprise partners including Bank of America and Verizon.
More Funding, and a Shift to AI
Strivr kept raising money as the wider VR industry struggled. In March 2020, TechCrunch reported that Strivr had closed a $30 million Series B round led by Georgian Partners, a Canadian firm, bringing its total raised to $51 million. TechCrunch noted that consumer VR startups had struggled after years of missed estimates, while enterprise training remained one of the few major areas of opportunity.
“Everyone knows that VR has been slower to adopt and tougher to anticipate,” Belch told TechCrunch at the time.
The company has since changed direction again. Strivr now describes its product as Frontline Intelligence, an AI-based, hands-free system that detects mistakes and guides workers in real time while they’re on the job. The company says it learned from its enterprise customers that “training alone isn’t enough,” and that the bigger opportunity is supporting people while the work is happening. Belch is still CEO, and Bailenson is listed as co-founder and chief visionary.
What It Means for Founders
Strivr’s path is a good example of finding a big market by starting with a small, demanding one. Football teams were a narrow customer base, but they proved the product worked under pressure. That proof made it easier to sell to large employers, where the real scale was. And when the technology around it changed, the company adapted again rather than tying itself to one kind of hardware.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did Strivr raise in its initial funding round?
Strivr Labs raised $5 million in an initial funding round led by Signia Venture Partners, according to the Wall Street Journal, to expand across sports and the workplace.
Who founded Strivr?
Strivr was founded in 2015 by former Stanford University football player and assistant coach Derek Belch and Jeremy Bailenson of Stanford's Virtual Human Interaction Lab.
How did Strivr's VR training work for football teams?
Using its own software and VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR, Strivr let players run plays and scenarios as if they were in the middle of a game, giving them extra repetitions without physical contact.
How did Walmart use Strivr?
Strivr worked with Walmart to bring VR training to its 200 Walmart Academy training centres. In 2018, Walmart began sending Oculus Go headsets to its nearly 5,000 stores, about 17,000 headsets in total.
What happened to Strivr after its first round?
Strivr closed a $30 million Series B led by Georgian Partners in March 2020, bringing its total raised to $51 million. Strivr now focuses on Frontline Intelligence, an AI-based system that guides workers in real time on the job.