Startup Spotlight: VictoryXR(oyale)

Welcome to The Modern Day Renaissance Man newsletter. I, Trey Layton, write about the things that interest me, often covering topics such as startups, sports, and entertainment. If you'd like to receive these newsletters directly in your email a few times a week, go ahead and subscribe to never miss an email!

Happy Wednesday, folks.

Yeah. Inflation is still here. Maybe don't check that IRA this week.

Perhaps it was having grown up in the worlds of Webkinz and Wizard101, but I'm bullish on the metaverse. I don't know whether that metaverse looks as comprehensive as that depicted in Ready Player One, but I am confident that it is much more developed than whatever tf Zuck is giving us...

There are various use cases beyond social and leisure which were not possible in web2. Chief among these is innovation in the way we do education. Biden recently took the first steps in addressing the crippling student loan crisis we have in the country, a sum still in the trillions of dollars. This is the result of an entire generation having grown up being taught that the only way to succeed in life is with a college degree, thus incentives emerged for bad actors to take advantage of this and put up yard signs calling themselves academic institutions.

There are currently far too many colleges and far too many kids going to college when most would be better off beginning their careers debt-free and going through training or vocational programs which are far more affordable and often result in higher salaries for graduates than the "degrees" students receive at many of these private institutions.

The metaverse actually provides solution that also addresses the problem of inequity by making education more affordable and accessible for anyone. Developers have made tremendous progress in replicating the physical college experience as closely as possible. This would make college more affordable with lower facility upkeep costs, but it also eliminates space constraints and allows for tens of thousands of people to join lectures. It removes physical barriers to college altogether, allowing students to share the classroom with people from around the world.

In the long run, this technology has the potential to produce massive benefits for society, both practically through increasing educational access to those across the world, thus increasing the supply of smart individuals prepared to tackle the most pressing problems in their own communities and on a global scale, but also more subtly in pushing students to develop new perspectives though exposure to different cultures and backgrounds, thus building international community and rapport which might even prevent future conflicts.

These ambitions are still ways away, but there are brilliant minds looking to bring about reality in companies such as VictoryXR.

The company was founded in 2015 by Steve Grubbs, a former state legislator chairing the house education committee. He has decades of experience in the education space and has demonstrated the passion to take on this particular problem head on. In fact, he and his team were even awarded the Global Education Innovation of the Year award in 2021.

VictoryXR is attempting to tackle educational innovation in AR and VR both in higher education as well as K-12. I'm skeptical on the benefits of this tech on lower school levels considering the demonstrated impact of those first years of in-class instruction on children's development, educationally and socially, but there are experienced experts individually tasked with catering to each educational level, giving them the best shot at being able to do so.

A major challenge facing edtech ventures is a lack of reputation and name recognition among potential students and inherent opposition from established schools. VictoryXR has overcome these issues and established itself in the space instead through partnerships with 10 universities including well-known schools like West Virginia University, the University of Maryland, and Morehouse College. Go Maroon Tigers!

Despite being the Toby Flenderson of the tech world, Meta has admittedly done a lot to further this space. The company is the sponsor of this program, providing each student with a MetaQuest 2 headset to attend these virtual classes. The trial began in the spring of this year, and professors have been seemingly impressed by the results.

There is also a massive market for the product. There are nearly 20 million college students in the US alone. Coursera, an edtech platform offering thousands of pay-per-class courses, has even more users than this with over 30 million. Cheaper college alternatives would be attractive to millions of would-be students, and increasing the potential partnership offerings with physical universities would only further provide affordable higher education to millions of students and working professionals across the country.

On the international level, there are an astounding 220 million college students, more than double the number of enrollees in 2000 (100M). With the limited number of physical spots available to these international students, offering them an American education at affordable prices without having to leave their home countries is a win for future generations and American colleges, alike. (American) dream come true.

w3st virginia, YGMI.

Cheers to another day,

Trey