SpaceVR #DealMemo

Now that finals are over, I can address Aaron Batalion’s suggestion, and now publish an investment pitch I’ve been turning around in my head for a bit…

Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality each have applications in myriads of sectors. However we still have yet to see widespread adoption of the technology as a high-quality yet affordable delivery mechanism has not yet been released (think an Oculus headset or something like Jarvis). That said, once a sufficient delivery mechanism reaches economies of scale (which, though not a given, I believe will be within the next three years), VR will finally begin to pick up momentum with the casual user.

Investment in the space has seen a sharp increase over the last five years, with $787 Million across 60 deals in 2014 and $699 Million across 135 deals in 2015 according to CB Insights. In Q1 2016 alone, the sector saw over $1 billion in investment, including a massive $793 Million round to Magic Leap, the stealthiest yet seemingly most talked about company in the VR sector. While it should be noted that investment and hype in a sector does not necessarily indicate coming success for that sector, the applications for VR are so numerous that it’s hard to imagine it not catching on.

One traditional sector, that in my opinion, VR will turn on its head is the tourism sector. While most people will still travel, destinations that are popular for sightseeing will likely see a considerable slow-down in tourism. When accessible from your home through VR, less people will be willing to pay to travel to see the Grand Canyon, nor will they trek all the way to Egypt to just see the Pyramids.

An early-stage company in this space (pun very much intended) that takes this idea one step further is SpaceVR. SpaceVR is attempting to bring Space Exploration to anyone through Virtual Reality. SpaceVR is launching high-resolution 360° cameras, called a cube satellite, to give customers the ability to experience space. Their first cube-sat is called the Overview 1; according to an article in VentureBeat, it has “two 4K sensors, each equipped with super wide field of view lenses. Each lens will film footage that overlaps with the other’s, and SpaceVR will stitch that footage together.” It’s launch is planned for early 2017. SpaceVR’s goal, according to Ryan Holmes, SpaceVR’s CEO, is to have a 24/7 live stream of virtual reality from space.

While being an astronaut is the dream of many people, only 536 people have ever been to space. SpaceVR will enable many more to experience space, without the rigorous training and spending that has, until now, limited man-kind. While SpaceVR’s pricing has yet to be determined, they gave a year-long subscription with unlimited content for Kickstarter backers of $50 or more. Comparatively, the cost to go to space by various vendors is as follows:

Soyuz: $54,000,000.

SpaceX: $24,000,000.

Virgin Galactic: $200,000.

XCOR: $90,000.

SpaceVR is led by Ryan Holmes (CEO) and ex-NASA engineer Blaze Sanders (CTO). They raised $1.25 million on April 28th, 2016 in a round led by the Shanda Group with participation from Skywood Ventures.