Mumbai:  AutoVRse, a VR/AR tech startup, today announced the successful closure of a $2 million funding round led by Lumikai. This marks a significant milestone in AutoVRse’s journey, having already delivered cutting-edge VR solutions to multiple Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders including Shell, Godrej, Bosch, Tata Motors, Ultratech Cements, Aditya Birla Group, and many others.

The funding will primarily be utilized to further enhance AutoVRse's foundational enterprise product, VRseBuilder, “an end-to-end modular technology stack and SAAS platform to integrate VR into workflows of industries like manufacturing, construction, engineering, oil and gas, automotive, replacing ineffective manual instruction and/or expensive simulation techniques for purposes ranging from safety training to sales and collaborative remote work.”

270 million accidents occur in heavy industries, costing them $1.25 trillion globally. VrseBuilder is a one-stop, self-serve, modular, SAAS-style platform that empowers large organizations to effortlessly create, deploy, and manage VR training solutions and applications at scale, in real-time, across the world.

This funding will enable AutoVRse to augment its team with top-tier talent, and spearhead expansion efforts in the United States and expand its product suite. The company also plans to set up a B2B sales team in the US to drive qualified lead generation and facilitate market expansion.

The company also leverages their state-of-the-art, in-house game studio for cutting-edge research and development while building District M, the Multiverse Dance Festival - a social, multiplayer, rhythm VR game. The game's demo was launched on the Oculus AppLab two years ago and will soon be launched on Meta and PlayStation. The gaming division works closely with the enterprise division to leverage innovations for enterprise product development.

AutoVRse co-founders Ashwin Jaishanker, and Adarsh Muthappa, enthusiastically shared their outlook for the company's future, saying, “Virtual Reality (VR) wields transformative potential across diverse industries. Our enterprise solutions offer a world-class, ready-to-use, modular technology stack with SAAS-enabled deployment for purposes ranging from worker safety training to sales training and remote work design collaborations. An example of the real-world impact of our VR tech was our partnership with UltraTech Cements, where we deployed VR safety training modules across 51 plants in India and trained 50,000+ workers in VR—reducing factory incidents and saving lives. We leverage our in-house game studio to test, iterate, experiment and deliver immersive and cutting-edge innovative experiences for our enterprise clients. This cutting-edge research and cross-pollination of technology has also helped us create an immersive gaming experience with an original IP like District M.  Our vision is to build a foundational VR-OS (VR operating system) for enterprises, alongside world-class, meaningful, social, and fun experiences for consumers.”

Speaking on the announcement, Lumikai founding general partner Salone Sehgal said, “AutoVRse’s technology and solutions for enterprises, compete with the global best. Their focus on innovation and providing scalable, VR-led solutions for very real problems facing heavy industries, coupled with their innovative, state-of-the-art gaming studio, is a powerful combination—paving their rise to becoming a world leader in the VR space. At Lumikai, we are super excited to be lead investors and partner with Ashwin, Adarsh, and the AutoVRse team to build a world-class, enduring AR/VR company.”

Pushing the limit of what is possible in the immersive media space and delivering consistently path-breaking deployments in the field of enterprise VR/AR for more than 7 years, AutoVRse, has evolved into a pioneer in the AR/VR landscape transforming various industries with their tech prowess. The company’s flagship product, VRseBuilder’s primary goal is to help organizations adopt VR at scale, easily. It consists of 4 components, namely:

   Readymade VR Content Library: Safety and process training VR modules designed with a modular, VR-centric design philosophy

•    VR-Native Learning Management System: Schedule sessions, assign modules, access performance reports, and observe evaluation metrics in real-time, offering unparalleled training flexibility
•    Deployment Platform & Knowledge Repository: A secure web dashboard that helps IT and Security teams manage VR users, devices and content by seamlessly integrating with LMS and SSO systems, allowing users to upload videos and PDFs and manage the organization’s VR knowledge repository
•    Unity SDK + Infinity Workshop: Rapidly prototype VR apps with a no-code editor and massive library of modular blocks (assets, templates and fully finished VR training modules)

Also participating in this round was angel investor Yash Kotak, Founder and CEO of Jumper.ai, who said "Jumping into AutoVRSe was a no-brainer. Right from the get-go with the founders and the team, I could feel the energy, the focus, and that unstoppable drive to conquer the VR scene. With its fundamentally strong tech, flawless execution, and sky-high market potential, investing was a total blast from day one."

Additional prominent figures in the funding round include Rajat Monga, co-founder of TensorFlow and Inference.io and Viswanathan Krishnamurthi, ex-CIO/VP at Yahoo & Eaton.

While talking about this the Co-founder of TensorFlow and Inference.io, Rajat Monga, also added “AR/VR is where we are all headed, and with Oculus Quest (and now Apple Vision Pro), people think of consumer apps. I loved how Ashwin and the team understood the space and focused on enabling enterprises to bring their ideas to reality.”