Keyhorse, as an initiative of KSTC, is an early stage venture capital firm focused on supporting a thriving community of Kentucky companies built by founders who are willing to go the distance. We believe entrepreneurs are vital to our community's growth, and we work to support them in achieving their vision.

Keyhorse Capital (KSTC)

Arkitekt Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm, with a mission to improve and advance human health. We specialize in backing founders building in Health & Bio from the earliest stages of company formation.

Arkitekt Ventures

City Light is a venture capital firm that invests early in impactful companies. They partner with experienced teams building category-defining solutions in the areas of education, safety and care, and the environment - where more revenue equals better lives at scale, every time. As one of the earliest and most successful impacts investing firms, City Light has a track record of identifying and scaling impact in ways that build better companies.  The firm was founded in 2004 and is based in New York, New York. Some of its key portfolio investments are 2U (Nasdaq: TWOU), ShotSpotter (Nasdaq: SSTI), Trilogy Education, and Ready Responders.

City Light Capital

Oxford Science Enterprises is the university-partnered venture firm. We work with the University of Oxford to build companies that create fundamental technologies: science-based businesses capable of tackling the planet’s toughest problems. We invest in life science, AI and software, healthcare, and deep tech to create companies taking on challenges like nuclear fusion, quantum computing and developing treatments and cures for infectious diseases. Founded in 2015, we’ve raised over £600M to create a world-class technology ecosystem, and combine our deep experience with a network of investors, entrepreneurs and sector-experts to find co-investment, build businesses, and hire senior management talent.

Oxford Science Enterprises

Optum Ventures provides capital and strategic guidance to startup companies solving health care's pressing challenges. It is the venture capital investment arm of Optum that invests in digital health companies that use data and insights to help improve consumers' access to health care services and how care is delivered and paid for, and that makes the health care system more reliable and easier to navigate.

Optum Ventures

Chrysalis Ventures is a source of equity capital for young growth companies in the ''under-ventured'' Midwest and South. Chrysalis invests primarily in early-stage and expansion-stage companies in healthcare services and technology, media and communications, and business services.

Chrysalis Ventures

Confluent Health is a holding company that focuses on creating a healthcare system that recognizes physical and occupational therapy. Physical therapists manage them and offer shared services, ongoing education, professional development, mentorships, and real partnerships. They assist clients in lowering healthcare costs and improving general population health.

Confluent Health

Accenture Ventures partners with growth-stage startups that create innovative and disruptive enterprise technologies using an open innovation.

Accenture Ventures

Thornton Capital is focused on long-term, growth investments in real estate, venture capital, and private equity.

Thornton Capital

BehaVR

BehaVR creates digital therapeutics for behavioral health using Virtual Reality.  It focuses on the intersection of behavioral health and chronic disease, building skills of stress resilience, emotional regulation, and self-efficacy, helping people better cope with their conditions, be more adherent to care plans, and improve their overall health.

Kentucky-based BehaVR is a virtual reality (VR)-based mental health startup, founded in 2016, that provides digital therapy to clients through virtual reality, cloud computing and machine learning. It allows VR sessions to be personalized and engaging through patient experience logs and responses being captured and analyzed.

New technologies are opening up mental health services to previously overbooked and underserved populations.

Mental Health Tech

<div>Kentucky-based BehaVR is a virtual reality (VR)-based mental health startup, founded in 2016, that provides digital therapy to clients through virtual reality, cloud computing and machine learning. It allows VR sessions to be personalized and engaging through patient experience logs and responses being captured and analyzed.&nbsp;</div>

A new industry proving that digital connectivity and mental health can co-exist.

Digital Wellness

RealizedCare is a VR-based mental health startup that focuses on chronic pain management, stress, anxiety disorders, depression, and addiction recovery. The company was formed via the merger of BehaVR and Fern Health in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24126">November 2023</a>. The company provides VR interventions that are available, without its full care management system, to clinicians for their in-clinic use.

Technologies bringing about a new reality

Extended Reality

BehaVR, LLC

RxLightning, BehaVR founders reflect on becoming CEOs

Kentucky-based BehaVR is a virtual reality (VR)-based mental health startup, founded in 2016, that provides digital therapy to clients through virtual reality, cloud computing and machine learning. It allows VR sessions to be personalized and engaging through patient experience logs and responses being captured and analyzed.It also provides cognitive and mindfulness activities and gamified experiences to treat mental health conditions. It follows its SAFE—Stress, Anxiety, Fear, Extinction—protocol which deals with stress reduction, anxiety regulation, maternal health, pain management, and addiction recovery.In September 2020, BehaVR partnered with Limbix, another mental health tech company that primarily targets adolescents, to extend the VR offerings as well as the richness of content available to patients.In December 2022, BehaVR and OxfordVR merged and raised USD 13 million in a Series B funding round. The merged entities operate under BehaVR’s brand with BehaVR's founder CEO Aaron Gani leading the company, with Dr. Daniel Freeman, OxfordVR's founder, being a part of the leadership team. The merged entities raised USD 13 million in a Series B funding round co-led by Oxford Science Enterprises and Optum Ventures, along with participation from other venture capital firms. The funds raised will be used to support the merger of the two entities.The company partnered with Japanese pharmaceutical company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6180">Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma </a>in October 2021, to develop and commercialize three novel prescription digital therapeutics and general wellness products, for which both parties are pursuing a Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) classification and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.

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 Boulder Care is a telepsychiatry platform that connects patients who are opioid-addicted users to addiction specialists, care coordinators, and peer coaches. Patients can get personalized plans via video and text messaging and the app is intended to be used in conjunction with prescription medicines and lab tests.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In June 2022, the company raised USD 36 million in a Series B funding round. The funds were earmarked to triple the size of the company’s medical care team, expand its geographical footprint, and increase its value-based care treatment options through partnerships with health plans.
 
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Boulder Care

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 7 Cups provides an emotional-support platform with a network of volunteer listeners. Users can anonymously access either one-on-one chats or group chats 24/7, free of charge for issues such as depression, anxiety, relationships and those related to the LGBTQ+ community. It also teaches users skills such as meditation to improve their lives. If users want additional support, the company also provides access to an online therapy platform with a network of 180 licensed therapists for a subscription plan of USD 150 per month. 7 Cups is available for users above 13 years of age (users between 13 and 17 years old engage with listeners who are specifically trained in teenage interactions).
 
 
 Volunteer peer listeners get free training and support as well as flexible scheduling. Once a user requests a chat, it will be directed to available listeners and if the user requests a specific listener, he will be connected as soon as the listener accepts the demand. The service is anonymous and the listener has no access to the details of the user unless the information is disclosed to the listener by the user in their conversations. As of January 2022, 7 Cups has facilitated more than 51 million conversations, served 25 million individuals, and had 300,000 trained listeners. The listeners serve in 180 countries in 140 languages.
 
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7 Cups

wayForward provides technology-supported behavioral health and emotional wellness services for employers planning to make services available to their employees. It uses a screening procedure designed by neuropsychologists to triage and help employee members get clinically relevant mental healthcare. The company provides a self-guided app, text-based coaching, video visits, telepsychiatry, and if required, in-person visits or an on-site counselor. wayForward leverages its evidence-based approach and artificial intelligence in delivering its services and claims that it has been able to reduce anxiety symptoms by 48% and depression symptoms by 59%.The company raised USD 2 million in a seed round in June 2020, which brought total funding to USD 4.5 million. DarioHealth, a chronic disease management platform based in Israel, signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of wayForward in May 2021 for a total consideration of USD 30 million. As of May 2021, the wayForward had approximately 20,000 members and was available in North America, Australia, and Europe.

wayForward

Coa is a mental health company that conducts online classes led by licensed therapists for mental health users. The classes focus on conditions such as stress, anxiety, confidence and relationships. The company raised USD 3 million in a seed round in October 2020 from investors led by Crosslink Capital.

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 Meru Health is an online platform that connects patients experiencing stress, depression, anxiety, burnout, and other mental health issues to licensed therapists. The company was founded by Kristian Ranta in 2016 after his older brother died from suicide after battling depression. The platform offers a 12-week program and personalized text-based coaching services and virtual workshops. Meru also provides access to progress reports and anonymous peer support groups as well as sleep, nutrition, and mindfulness advice on top of vital tracking information—such as heart rate data.
 
 
 The company reported a 10x YoY growth in its customer base in 2020 and plans to serve 10 million users by 2027. The company also achieved 8x YoY growth in revenue in 2020 amid an increase in demand in mental health services brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In September 2022, Meru Health and clinical trial platform Curebase 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13230">
 announced a partnership
 </a>
 to carry out a three-year clinical trial to measure the effectiveness of Meru Health’s 12-week digital depression treatment targeting primary care patients. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health’s Small Business Innovation Research program. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fundings and financials
 
 
 In May 2022, the company secured a USD 2 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to measure the effectiveness of its 12-week program for treating primary care patients. The study will follow 300 patients across the US with symptoms of major depression for a period of three years.
 
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Meru Health

Online peer-to-peer platform and support system that connects mental health communities.

Mobile-based apps and FDA-approved software that incorporate evidenced-based cognitive behavioral therapy to prevent, treat, or manage mental and behavioral conditions in conjunction with or as a replacement for traditional medication.

Products for behavioral health and mental health tracking, measurement-based care, and real-time remote monitoring of patients.

Subscription or membership-based platforms and apps to connect therapists, psychiatrists or behavioral health coaches with patients.

Offers virtual offerings for mental health consultations

Mental healthcare services offer personalized care tailored to a user's needs and treatment progression

There are mental health providers offering services specifically to help LGBTQ+ or BIPOC individuals

Several mental health technology providers offer therapy services rendered by AI/ML technology

<div>
 
 Kentucky-based BehaVR is a virtual reality (VR)-based mental health startup, founded in 2016, that provides digital therapy to clients through virtual reality, cloud computing and machine learning. It allows VR sessions to be personalized and engaging through patient experience logs and responses being captured and analyzed.&nbsp;
 
 
 It also provides cognitive and mindfulness activities and gamified experiences to treat mental health conditions. It follows its SAFE&mdash;Stress, Anxiety, Fear, Extinction&mdash;protocol which deals with stress reduction, anxiety regulation, maternal health, pain management, and addiction recovery.
 
 
 In November 2023, the company merged with Fern Health, a virtual chronic pain management company, to form RealizedCare. The merger aims to develop a new digital care management solution for chronic pain, leveraging the strengths of both companies. As part of the new platform, members are assigned a pain coach and receive a personalized care plan, inclusive of pain neuroscience education, mindfulness practices, and other exercises. Members also have access to PatientsLikeMe's digital health community to provide peer support.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 The company partnered with Japanese pharmaceutical company 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6180">
 Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma
 </a>
 in October 2021, to develop and commercialize three novel prescription digital therapeutics and general wellness products, for which both parties are pursuing a Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) classification and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.&nbsp;
 
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Headspace is a digital wellness company that delivers meditation programs through a smartphone app. The company was founded by Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk, and Richard Pierson, a marketing and brand development professional. In addition to meditation, Headspace offers stress management programs, mindfulness activities, and sleep therapy solutions. Headspace also operates a business-to-business (B2B) focused “Headspace for Work” program with around 1,600 corporate customers as of January 2021, which has seen around 3x growth during 2020. Further, the company operates “Headspace for Health,” a program that develops US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved meditation tools to treat chronic diseases.As of January 2023, the company has over 100 million users across 190 countries, with its brands “Headspace for Work” and “Ginger” being used by over 4,000 enterprises including Starbucks, Adobe, Delta Air Lines, Mattel, and Paramount. The company also partners with a health plans, such as Cigna, to provide its services.In January 2022, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7781">acquired Sayana </a>, an AI-powered mental health provider which helps employees manage stress and anxiety, improve sleep and increase productivity. The acquisition was carried out to expand Headspace's services to provide personalized self-care to its users.In June 2022, the company launched a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11145">new training program for senior leaders </a>and managers to support mental well-being in the workplace.In September 2022, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12918">acquired fellow mindfulness platform Shine </a>for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition enhanced Headspace Health’s offerings by supporting inclusiveness and diversity while also growing Headspace’s member base. Select content from Shine was earmarked to be added to Headspace Health’s content library.In November 2022, the company launched a new platform that combines its product offerings with mental health platform Ginger’s <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5119">an entity it merged with in August 2021 </a>. The platform combines Headspace Health’s meditation and mindfulness services with Ginger’s on-demand coaching, therapy, and psychiatry services, to offer enterprise clients an integrated solution for supporting their employees.In January 2023, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16052">expanded its geographical reach </a>to offer coaching, therapy, and employee assistance-related services to UK headquartered enterprise clients. The company stated it plans on continuing this international expansion into other countries throughout 2023 but did not mentioned specifics.In April 2024, Headspace <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28767">introduced a new mental health coaching service </a>that offered one-on-one support in tackling a wide range of life challenges. The service was available to its direct-to-consumer subscribers at a rate of USD 99.99 per month. The company claimed the experts had been trained to help individuals set realistic goals, initiate new habits, and motivate change while providing them full responsibility for their achievement.In July 2024, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31551">announced that Tom Pickett will be its new CEO</a> and member of the company's board of directors, effective August 12, 2024.Key customers and partnershipsIn June 2023, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19771">extended its partnership with with employee benefit management platform provider Virgin Pulse </a>to integrate its platform with Virgin Pulse’s platform. This integration enables employees enrolled in Virgin Pulse’s health benefit offerings to access the full suite of Headspace’s offerings as a part of Virgin Pulse’s Homebase for Health platform.In March 2024, Headspace <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27330">partnered with Meta </a>to launch "Headspace XR," available for an upfront fee of USD 30. Headspace XR provides guided mindfulness and meditation exercises led by the same instructors familiar to regular Headspace users. The exercises cover activities such as breathing techniques, body scans, and mood tracking. Additionally, it incorporates a social element, including interactive metaverse-style gaming in vivid environments.Most recently, in June 2024, Headspace <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30378">partnered with Uwill</a>, a mental health platform for colleges and students, to integrate Headspace's wellness services into Uwill's existing portal. The collaborative effort will allow Uwill's Urise program to incorporate Headspace's services, primarily meditation, yoga, and mindfulness offerings.

Headspace

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 Calm is a digital wellness company which offers guided meditations to make people happy as well as mindfulness and sleep programs through a smartphone app. Its audio content is designed to strengthen mental fitness and address mental health challenges such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, and depression. The company started out as a website in 2011 where users were trained to stare at a screen and listen to waves on a beach for two minutes without touching their mouse. In February 2013, more content was added and the company launched a mobile app. Calm was named by Apple as the 2017 iPhone App of the Year and received Editors' Choice certification by Google in 2018. Calm offers content in English, Spanish, French, and German and operates Calm Business, a business-to-business (B2B) covering over 10 million employees as of March 2022. 
 
 
 
 
 Calm gained significant traction in 2020 during the Covid-19 lockdowns. It became the most downloaded digital wellness app during April 2020 with 3.9 million downloads worldwide, including 1.6 million downloads in the US. Kaiser Permanente, a large managed care service provider, provided Calm free for its 12.4 million members in May 2019. Calm also partnered with CNN on the 2020 US presidential election day to play the sound of rain hitting leaves on air, a marketing effort that went viral on social media.
 
 
 As of December 2020, Calm has reported over 100 million app downloads (compared with over 40 million in early 2019 and over 80 million as of May 2020) and was valued at USD 2 billion. 
 
 
 In October 2022, the company 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13853">
 launched a new clinical mental health offering
 </a>
 called &ldquo;Calm Health,&rdquo; marking its expansion into the mental health space. The new solution provides condition-specific programs designed to bridge mental and physical care and includes tools for communication with providers and medication tracking. This solution was created for the company by Ripple Health, which was 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8246">
 acquired by Calm
 </a>
 in February 2022. 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of December 2022, the company has partnered with over 20 brands to collaborate and provide its services through sales partnerships. These brands include Xbox, Amazon, YouTube, Adidas, Fitbit, and American Express. 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In December 2020, Calm raised USD 75 million in a series C funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners doubling it&rsquo;s valuation to USD 2.0 billion. Calm planned to use the funding to expand operations globally and broaden its B2B offerings.
 
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Calm

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 Simple Habit is a guided meditation service provider, which offers bite sized, five-minute long meditation sessions through an app targeting people with busy schedules. The company also offers mindfulness, sleep, and wellness programs. As of November 2020, Simple Habit offered over 2,000 sessions designed to help users sleep, reduce anxiety, and get over relationship issues. The content is organized by occasion, such as commuting, going to sleep or preparing for a meeting. 
 
 
 In June 2022 the company launched its Sleep Habit app, a virtual sleep clinic that helps users improve the quality of their sleep. The app uses clinically validated approaches to improve sleep quality and treat issues such as insomnia via methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy. 
 
 
 As of September 2022, Simple Habit claims to have a 7 million users between both of its apps. 
 
 
 
 
 In November 2018, Simple Habit raised USD 10 million in a Series A round led by Foundation Capital, bringing the company’s total funding to USD 12.6 million. The company used the funds to expand its library of guided meditation sessions and to add audio content led by therapists and executive coaches. As of late 2018, the app was reported to sign up as many as 30,000 new users per week. As of November 2020, Simple Habit reported having helped helped over five million people reduce burnout through its app’s services.
 
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Simple Habit

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 Insight Timer is a company which offers guided meditation, yoga, and sleep programs through a smartphone app. It also offers free interactive live sessions with teachers, performers, and therapists through the app and web. The company’s business-to-business (B2B) offering, “Circles for teams”, targets enterprise customers to help bring employees together to practice group meditations, chat with each other, and recommend content. In October 2020, Insight Timer began offering free, daily live yoga classes from instructors based on a pay-what-you-can model.
 
 
 
 
 As of October 2020, Insight Timer featured around 8,000 meditation teachers providing over 70,000 free tracks on guided meditations in 50 languages as well as 5,000 music tracks. The company has also claimed that it ranks first in the US among meditation apps in terms of the time spent by users with Insight Timer boasting 63% of the time spent on meditation apps as of 2018.
 
 
 
 
 The majority of the content is available for free, and users can sign up for a premium version at a price of USD 9.99 per month or USD 59.99 per year. Premium users get access to content such as Insight courses and the ability to download content.
 
 
 
 
 In January 2020, the company raised USD 27.4 million. As of November 2020, the monthly operating cost of the company is reported to be around USD 1 million and Insight Timer has failed to break even as of the end of 2020. The founder attributes the significant growth of the company to its free content and has advocated against moving too much of its content behind the premium subscription paywall. As of November 2020, the app had a 16% 30-day retention rate, more than double the average retention rate of 7.7% for top 100 apps in Apple’s App Store. As of November 2021, the company has 19 million users. 
 
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Insight Timer

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 Big Sky Health is the developer of the Oak Meditation breathing app. Oak Meditation offers guided and unguided meditations, sleep meditations, meditation timers, yogic exercises for breathing, animated instructions, and music tracks. The company is headed by Mike Maser, an entrepreneur who was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. Most of the companies services are offered free of charge with in-app purchases ranging from USD 5.99 to USD 38.99.
 
 
 
 
 In addition to Oak meditation, Big Sky also offers a fasting app called Zero and an alcohol moderation app called Less. In May 2020, Big Sky raised USD 8 million in Series A funding in a round led by Greycroft with participation from existing investors True Ventures and Trinity Ventures, bringing the company’s total funding to USD 12.2 million. Big Sky Health expects to use the funds to expand its staff and boost customer acquisition.
 
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Big Sky Health

Apps that provide relaxation, stress reduction and non-therapeutic mental health support via meditation-related techniques.

These apps aim to increase users’ body and brain functions including memory and attention to detail with microlearning, gamification, and journaling techniques.

Helps users analyze and address sleep disorders with wearable tech, music and sound therapy, and storytelling.

Apps that provide virtual training programs, track workouts, and provide guides for nutrition.

Some digital wellness providers provider VR/AR experiences for meditations

Some companies offer personalized care/meditation plans, workout regimens, or treatments for sleep disorders

Offers app-based platforms that improve health and wellness

RealizedCare is a VR-based mental health startup that focuses on chronic pain management, stress, anxiety disorders, depression, and addiction recovery. The company was formed via the merger of BehaVR and Fern Health in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24126">November 2023</a>. The company provides VR interventions that are available, without its full care management system, to clinicians for their in-clinic use.Evidence-based VR programs include 1) Mind &amp; Motion, a set of gamified experiences to help improve locomotion; 2) First Resort, a transdiagnostic intervention, which provides cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) skills and tracked assessments for individuals suffering from stress, anxiety disorders, and depression; 3) gameChange (available exclusively in the UK), which models 3D simulations of café, street, doctor's office, and other environments for individuals with agoraphobia.The company’s pain management solutions, studied in 165 subjects across two completed randomized controlled trials (RCT), showcased a 2.5x greater likelihood of a clinical reduction in disability and 20% improvement in pain catastrophizing.Other services offered include the company’s digital management platform. This assigns patients a pain coach and a personalized care plan, inclusive of pain neuroscience education, mindfulness practices, and other exercises. Members will also have access to PatientsLikeMe's digital health community to provide peer support.Key customers and partnershipsPartnerships focused on the company’s product development efforts include the following:1) gameChange, developed by a multi-partner team led by researchers at the University of Oxford and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust2) Mind &amp; Motion developed with notable pain scientist Dr. Adriaan Louw to digitize PNE, an evidence-based curriculum for improving pain coping skills3) The digital care platform, developed in collaboration with scientific advisors and pain experts at Massachusetts General HospitalFunding and financialsIn December 2022 (prior to the merger forming RealizedCare) BehaVR and OxfordVR merged to operate under BehaVR’s brand. The merged entities raised USD 13 million in a Series B funding round co-led by Oxford Science Enterprises and Optum Ventures, along with participation from other venture capital firms. The funds raised were allocated to support the merger of the two entities.The company also received an investment of an undisclosed amount from Accenture, through Accenture Ventures, in December 2022. Following the investment, the company became a part of Accenture Ventures’ Project Spotlight, an investment and engagement platform that connects emerging technology startups with the Global 2000 to fill in strategic innovation gaps.

Interplay Learning (Interplay) provides on-demand, interactive, and hands-on simulation learning courses for skilled trades, including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, solar, and facilities maintenance, through VR, mobile, and desktop applications. The learning courses also include simulated walkthrough videos where experts lead users through procedure guides methodically, with knowledge testing features and additional learning material such as wiring diagrams, equations, sample system configs, and charts at the end of each lesson. The platform also enables managers to track user progress.The company operates a subscription-based model with monthly packages for individuals (USD 54) and teams (USD 229), alongside a custom plan for larger organizations.Key customers and partnershipsNotable customers include Tesla and Rheem Manufacturing. Interplay’s customer usage rose by 445% YoY in 2020. As of February 2021, the platform had over 2,000 customers and 110,000 users across the US.Funding and financialsIn its last funding round (February 2021), Interplay raised USD 18 million in Series B funding co-led by S3 Ventures and Owl Ventures, the world’s largest venture capital firm focused on education technology. As part of the deal, Managing Director of Owl Ventures, Ian Chiu, joined Interplay’s board. The funds were raised to expand its offering to new markets and to accelerate its vision to combine immersive learning experiences with a human connection.

Interplay Learning

Switzerland-based WayRay develops holographic AR technology and hardware for the automobile sector. Its technology is used in head-up displays (HUDs) that project images into a driver’s field of vision to assist with navigation. Although its initial focus was on developing HUDs that can be purchased and installed in any vehicle, it has since pivoted to producing embedded HUD systems (i.e., hardware built into vehicles). WayRay’s HUDs are considered to provide a wider field of vision and combine data (location and mapping information) with vision data to generate images by projecting a laser beam through a Picture Generating Unit (PGU) onto a Holographic Optical Element (HOE).&nbsp;In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18537">May 2023</a>, WayRay announced integration of its AR displays into Tesla Model 3's in Switzerland, with plans to follow shortly afterwards in the US. Previously, in September 2021 the company launched its deep reality system that replaces the traditional car dashboard. In addition, WayRay launched “The Holograktor” dubbed the first “metaverse on wheels”, which can be driven conventionally or using a remote control via a 5G and satellite connection (November 2021).&nbsp;The company’s founder and CEO, Vitaly Ponomarev, identified that its systems are more advanced, backed by more patents, and potentially 20x smaller than comparable devices in the market. WayRay’s HQ in Switzerland also acts as a product design and development hub, while its R&amp;D center and prototyping factory are based in Russia.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsThe company is backed by strategic investors such as luxury automaker Porsche, which highlighted the management’s expertise in space engineering, hardware, and software development as key reasons for its investment, Hyundai Motor Co., and Alibaba. It is also notable that these investors, particularly Hyundai, are looking at ways to potentially use WayRay’s technology to offer more services in the future. For instance, Hyundai believed that the technology could be used for smart cities and smart buildings, which are its new areas of interest.WayRay partnered with Karma Automotive, a producer of luxury electric vehicles, in December 2021 to support the implementation of its HUDs into their test fleet. Moreover, it partnered with a leader in designing and manufacturing specialty glass, AGP eGlass, in September 2021 to further proliferate its technology.&nbsp; Funding and financialsIt was reported in April 2021 that the company is considering a public listing at a USD 2 billion valuation via a SPAC, although no further updates on this have been announced as at January 2024.&nbsp;

WayRay

AmazeVR initially focused on developing VR technologies but pivoted to VR concerts in late 2019. The concerts are backed by proprietary 9K cameras and software that automate complex VR concert visual effects that run on more than 100 headsets simultaneously. Users join and hang out with other users as avatars while experiencing VR concerts. It intends to bring VR concerts by major artists to theaters and eventually, homes.AmazeVR rolled out its first commercial VR concert, which will feature 3x Grammy winner Megan Thee Stallion, in 2022. The artist is expected to tour select AMC Theaters across the US. It is also in the final stages of closing deals with its second and third artists. AmazeVR also revealed plans to release weekly content by 2024 in theaters and for at-home viewers.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20145">July 2023</a>, AmazeVR launched its official AmazeVR Concerts app, featuring an exclusive VR concert from Swedish pop star, Zara Larsson. The app is available on major VR app stores, and the exclusive Zara Larsson VR concert can be accessed for a year at a launch price of USD 6.99. AmazeVR also produces and monetizes VR content on a subscription basis.As of August 2023, the company was in the process of producing and releasing mixed reality concerts by overlaying virtual elements onto live, real-world video.Funding and financialsThe company’s most recent funding was in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13338">September 2022</a>, when it raised USD 17 million in a Series B funding round led by Mirae Asset Capital. The fresh funds were allocated to expand partnerships with artists, artist management companies, labels, publishers, and agencies.

AmazeVR

Dispelix, based in Finland, designs and manufactures single-layer, full-color waveguide displays, a thin (about 1mm) transparent element that takes in a projected image and relays it to the eye, using a nanophotonics-based approach catering to AR applications (e.g., smart glasses). It uses laser beam scanning technology to render laser-sharp images with a gamut of color palettes, which are displayed using beam-combiner technology. Its patented and proprietary approach includes diffractive surface relief gratings, which are elements used for high-power laser applications, fabricated on high refractive index glass wafers that enhance field-of-view and image quality.The company had a total of more than 40 granted or pending patent families as of November 2021. Its product line, Dispelix DPX, includes Dispelix DPX - Ohut, Dispelix DPX - Selva, and Dispelix DPX - Sade with a varying degree of field of view, form factor, and weight. According to Co-Founder and CTO Juuso Olkkonen, its displays are the lightest and thinnest in the market.Key customers and partnerships1) Foxconn and Pegatron: to create reference designs for AR glasses based on its Selvä waveguide display (October 2023)&nbsp;2) VividQ: created a “waveguide combiner” which accurately displays variable-depth 3D content in a user’s environment (January 2023)3) ColorChip and Maradin: To further Light Beam Scanning (LBS) solutions for AR glasses (October 2022)4) Jade Bird Displays: To develop multiple reference designs for AR devices (June 2022)5) AAC Technologies: To improve waveguide displays for the AR and MR industry (March 2022)6) OQmented: for the development and commercialization of MEMS-based LBS technology (November 2021)7) Coretronic: To develop a range of AR optical module solutions (December 2020)8) Hoya Corporation: To improve quality of waveguide displays (November 2020)Funding and financialsIn its most recent funding round (November 2021), Dispelix raised USD 33 million in a Series B funding round co-led by Atlantic Bridge, CCB Trust, and Flashpoint with participation from Lifeline Ventures, VTT Ventures, and 3M Ventures. The funds were allocated to product development. It revealed that several OEM customers were slated to integrate its technology into their consumer offerings by 2023.

Dispelix

DigiLens is a developer of holographic waveguides, which is a clear, thin piece of glass or plastic, used for AR devices. In January 2023, the company launched ARGO, an XR smartglass designed for enterprise and industrial use, the first AR device to utilize Qualcomm’s SnapDragon XR2 platform. Other specifications included 6-degrees of freedom (6-DoF) tracking, a 30-degree field-of-view, spatial audio, a 48MP RGB camera, voice and gaze recognition, access to real-time data visualizations, and a 2,500-nits HD display.&nbsp;The company’s first product, the DigiLens Crystal was introduced in 2019, was a thin-film laser-etched photopolymer embedded with microscopic holograms of mirror-like optics. By projecting a micro display to one end of the lens and another set of optics working to guide the light wave toward the eye, this proved to be an ideal piece of hardware for AR devices, which are preferred with as little hardware as possible.&nbsp;It claims that its patented optical platform and photopolymer technology coupled with a holographic copy manufacturing process enable it to produce cheaper and more scalable solutions. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17598">April 2023</a>, the company announced the launch of SRG+, a surface relief gratings product that improves upon its waveguide technology.The company generates revenue by licensing its technology across a range of industries including the automobile, enterprise, consumer, avionics, and military sectors. DigiLens also offers a white-label solution for automotive companies whereby it creates holographic waveguides for windshields that could offer in-cabin experiences for drivers.&nbsp;&nbsp; Key customers and partnershipsKey partnerships include that with1) Phantom Technologies: - Phantom Technology: To integrate Phantom's CASSI Spatial AI assistant into the DigiLens ARGO glasses, providing features such as spatial search, a contextual assistant, and task management using voice commands (October 2023)2) Wisear: To integrate its neural interface-powered earphones with the ARGO smart glasses (May 2023)3) Mojo Vision: To utilize Mojo Vision's micro-LED technology to build improved AR glasses (May 2023)4) Taqtile: To integrate the company's ARGO smart glasses with Taqtile's AR work platform, Manifest (May 2023)5) OMNIVISION: To develop new XR product offerings (January 2023)Other partnerships include that with OMNIVISION (January 2023), a leading global developer of semiconductor solutions to develop new XR product offerings. OMNIVISION’s liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) panels allowed DigiLens to build LCOS/LED projectors optimized for its holographic waveguides. OMNIVISION's core camera technology provides DigiLens' devices with features such as visual odometry and six degrees of freedom.&nbsp;DigiLens also works with Taiwanese licensed waveguide manufacturer Young Optics, Chinese original design manufacturer and electronics supplier Malata, Korean display manufacturer Sekonix, international technology company Continental, Chinese optical elements manufacturer Crystal Optech, and Mitsubishi Chemical.&nbsp;Funding and financialsIn April 2022, DigiLens announced the second close of its Series D funding round (intiial close in November 2021) in which it raised USD 50 million at a valuation of USD 530 million. The funds were allocated for the development of DesignV1, its second-generation product.

DigiLens

Companies developing XR headsets and relevant sub-components (displays, sensors, and processors). Also includes complementary XR hardware (tracking devices, haptic vests, and gloves)

Companies offering engines that enable the development of AR/VR content, also includes companies offering capabilities to capture and create 3D images for immersive environments

Companies offering AR/VR solutions or toolkits for specific industry applications, including VR game developers

Companies offering location-based AR/VR experiences

AR/VR platforms offer remote assistance to field experts and headset manufacturers facilitate virtual work

Some solutions in the "content" segment are offered under a B2B SaaS model

Headsets and content segments provide the building blocks for the metaverse

AR, VR, and MR are the primary enabling technologies for the XR industry

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

<div> 
 <ul>
 <li>VR-based mental health startup BehaVR has merged with Fern Health, a virtual chronic pain management company, to form RealizedCare. The merger aims to develop a new digital care management solution for chronic pain, leveraging the strengths of both companies.</li> 
 <li>As part of the platform, members will be assigned a pain coach and receive a personalized care plan, inclusive of pain neuroscience education, mindfulness practices, and other exercises. Members will also have access to PatientsLikeMe's digital health community to provide peer support.</li> 
 </ul> 
</div> Analyst QuickTake: The news of the merger follows BehaVR’s previous merger with OxfordVR in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15319"> December 2022 </a> to expand its VR healthcare delivery platform. The entities also raised USD 13 million in a Series B funding round to support their merger.

BehaVR, LLC

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