At Great Point Ventures, we invest in entrepreneurs that are solving the world’s biggest problems. Whether in enterprise commerce, personal wellness, energy, finance or life science, we develop theses about how technology can be used to solve big problems. I had developed a thesis about how Virtual Reality could be a game changer in the enterprise. We looked at several companies in the space, but only one stood out.
Our thesis on the Enterprise VR market was solidified after meeting with Strivr. I’m sure some investors saw a training company using VR; but after speaking with the Strivr team, we saw a company that could enhance human performance and retention.
The problem with learning in today’s corporate world is that it’s done in environments that don’t achieve retention or engagement. This inevitably causes employee attrition because they either aren’t equipt properly to perform their jobs or aren’t engaged and inspired to be there. New employees then come in and the cycle of training starts all over again. If we could find a way to train people in a more engaging, immersive way that drives better retention and performance – and it can be done at scale, then we can spark a true revolution in company performance. It’s all about providing people the ability to experience their jobs and make mistakes in a safe, controlled, and realistic environment. We all know that on-the-job training and 1:1 mentoring is effective, but how do you scale it across 1 million employees? And do it in a way that allows for practice so that you are prepared to perform day one.
I think it’s ironic when you ask a CEO of a large enterprise what their most important asset is – they almost always say it’s their people. Yet if you look at the investment they make in people relative to what they make in products, there’s a huge gap. So how do you close this gap while positively impacting the bottom line? You invest in your people by teaching them, by providing learning opportunities for growth. In return, your people will be more engaged which drives better retention, and perform at higher levels which drives better efficiency and customer satisfaction.
This is where our thesis was fulfilled by Strivr… it’s called Immersive Learning. With VR, we’re now seeing an inflection point where companies like Walmart and Verizon have adopted it on a massive scale to train millions of employees. They are investing in their people and closing that gap. They are raising workforce performance to new levels through Immersive Learning and seeing results.
I am excited about this impact and Strivr’s potential to change how people learn and work. And it’s just the start.