The Capital Region ARVR Accelerator announced its inaugural Demo Day to be held on Thursday, April 18, 2019 at the McClatchy New Ventures Lab in Sacramento. CRARVRAccelerator is the only program in the nine county area exclusively dedicated to the advancement of virtual, augmented and mixed reality.
Demo Day will showcase live virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) innovations by the seven startups in its first cohort and will feature a panel discussion with leaders in the VR and AR markets. In addition, a presentation on the state of VR/AR will be given by Amy Peck, CRARVRAccelerator Venture Partner and CEO of EndeavorVR.
VR in education, social gaming and hardware are among the live demonstrations that will be available to experience on site. Each startup in the cohort will deliver their pitches to a panel of esteemed judges from companies heavily invested in VR and AR such as HTC, Samsung Next, Flextronics, Applied Materials and McClatchy.
The winning pitch will be announced during the Networking Reception hosted by Five Star Bank. The VR and AR demonstrations will be available throughout the event.
“Capital Region ARVR Accelerator is built on existing relationships with sports and entertainment corporations, venture capital funds, healthcare institutions, technology companies and governmental entities, all of whom, provide unique testing grounds for participating cohort startups as they look to secure early pilot customers or partners,” said Jon Gregory, General Partner at CRARVRAccelerator.
CRARVRAccelerator is an intensive 12-week program that incorporates on-site and virtual components with investment capital, mentors and strategic partners to the VR and AR startups in the program.
The afternoon will kick off at 1:30 p.m with the panel discussion and end with the announcement of the winning startup pitch during the Five Star Bank Networking Reception, which starts at 5 p.m.
McClatchy New Ventures Lab is located at 401 I Street in Sacramento 95814. People interested in attending CRARVRAccelerator Demo Day can contact Jon Gregory or Lesley Chinen.
Participating CRARVRAccelerator Partners include: Capital Region-based Five Star Bank, Sacramento Kings, Haptic.al, Clark Pacific, Haney Biz, Tech Futures Group, McClatchy and Moneta Ventures.
Here are the startups in the first cohort:
SAMA Learning: SAMA Learning is a platform providing interactive, engaging and fun academic lessons for students in virtual reality. SAMA Learning combines VR, artificial intelligence and the science of learning to disrupt the current education system, encouraging more problem solvers and inventors in the future.
Adventure Lab: Adventure Lab is redefining entertainment through VR. Adventure Lab is a platform for online creators such as Twitch streamers, YouTube influencers and others to host and monitor group events for fans, followers and friends. It takes community building by digital natives to a new, virtual level.
Altwork: Altwork is a patented workstation combining the comforts of a chair, desk and monitors all in one convenient footprint. With the push of a button, users can seamlessly utilize their computers, mobile devices and game consoles in any of four key positions. It is a business class experience for the home or office.
Cognivive: Cognivive, founded by an accomplished neuroscientist and an experienced game designer, is angling to disrupt the neurorehabiliation market for patients, insurers and providers. Cognivive’s brand of digital medicine uses proprietary VR games and experiences to aid survivors of strokes and other neurological trauma in their rehabilitation.
Meedia: Meedia is a mobile app and platform with the functionality of a high cost public relations firms but made for anyone on a tight budget. Meedia is a tool for individuals in the public space who want full control over their brand messaging.
Observer Analytics: Observer Analytics is an analytics platform devoted to VR and AR. Observer Analytics gathers valuable data on user engagement in immersive experiences such as 3D interactions and eye tracking to inform content creators and managers on users’ behavior in applications such as gaming and employee training.
Tesuji: Tesuji’s VRumble combines VR and AR on its mobile device platform to redefine social experiences across live streams, gaming and group chat in realtime. Users can video chat in a group while playing interactive games and livestreaming simultaneously on their mobile phones.
