Having begun as a sports training company using virtual reality (VR), STRIVR has gone from strength to strength to diversify into other training verticals. Today, the company has announced a $16 million USD round of financing led by GreatPoint Ventures (GPV) to further its expansion plans.
“This is a critical time at STRIVR and we are beyond-excited about GreatPoint Ventures’ investment,” said Derek Belch, CEO, STRIVR in a statement. “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.”
With this investment, GPV Managing Partner Ray Lane also joined the company’s Board of Directors. “In a world rapidly shifting to asset performance and predictive analytics, human capital has been largely ignored with outdated training and development tools,” said Lane.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.”
STRIVR has been been working with the likes of JetBlue, Fidelity, Tyson Foods and United Rentals to transform employee learning. Tyson Foods for example has used VR in its general safety/hazard awareness training. In the initial pilot, the company claims it 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.
Most recently STRIVR revealed a partnership with retail giant Walmart, helping train employees across North America. This will see about 17,000 Oculus Go headsets in stores by the end of the year for employees to use.
As the training company continues to expand, VRFocus will keep you updated with the latest announcements.