Transfr secures $40M for VR training

The VR company, Transfr, has recently hit milestone by raising $40M in a Series C funding round. The investment round was spearheaded by ABS Capital, with contributions from other major players such as JPMorgan Chase Impact Finance, Advisory, Lumos Capital Group, among others.

This financial boost elevates Transfr's total funding to $90M.

  • Funding Utility: The CEO and founder, Bharani Rajakumar, has outlined four primary uses for these funds such as strengthening the executive team, enhancing their platform, developing new training simulations, and expanding their Spanish offerings.

  • Scale: Transfr has witnessed consistent growth, with the customer base doubling year on year from 2019 to 2023. Despite the waning VR hype for some, Transfr remains robust, with a client portfolio ranging from Fortune 500 companies to K-12 schools. With over 1,000 installations, they've launched almost 400,000 training simulations in less than three years.

  • Vision: Post his first venture, LearnBop, Rajakumar's vision was to develop advanced tech resources for education and upskilling. Transfr fulfills this by delivering immersive experiences to learners through hands-on training and VR demos, focusing on "middle skills" jobs that necessitate more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year college degree.

  • Mission: Transfr's mission is to create classroom-to-career pathways for everyone - high school students, adults, or people reentering the workforce post-incarceration.

  • VR Training: Rajakumar maintains VR training as a cost-effective, accessible way to acquire real-world skills, especially when you consider the expensive equipment and specialized facilities it eliminates.

  • Studies and Proof: A PwC study backs this up, finding VR 52% more cost-effective than traditional classroom training. Furthermore, Deloitte projects that by 2025, approximately 70% of employee training will incorporate VR.

Transfr's VR training isn't free - there's a software-as-a-service license fee and the need for headsets (like Oculus Quest). However, Rajakumar asserts it's more accessible than other upskilling programs.