South Florida Tech HubSouth Florida Tech Hub
17
Feb, 2024

By Nikki Cabus

AEXLAB’s VAIL VR Launches on Meta Quest Store after successful $5 million raise

Read Time 4 Minutes

AEXLAB announced the launch of its highly anticipated VAIL VR game on Meta Quest.

The Miami-based startup, AEXLAB, is a virtual reality studio committed to creating meaningful technologies for gaming, simulation, social experiences, and more. VAIL VR is a first-person multiplayer shooter designed to revolutionize the VR gaming landscape with its dynamic gameplay and immersive social interactions, delivering unparalleled combat.

Set against a backdrop of a future Earth divided between the Colonists and the REYAB Corporation, this conflict sets the stage for strategic teamplay and dynamic, immersive battles. While the lore enriches the game’s universe, the heart of VAIL lies in its player-driven competition of tactical gunplay and combat, where strategy, skill, and teamwork pave the way to victory. VAIL VR focuses on tactical gunplay and combat, promoting team-based action requiring teamwork to achieve victory.

Co-founded in 2015 by brothers Jonathan and Albert Ovadia as a passion project, AEXLAB is a virtual reality studio on a mission to create meaningful technologies for gaming, simulation and social experiences. The team shifted their focus from VR experiences in music to gaming in 2017. AEXLAB is leading the market with the development of cutting-edge software utilizing virtual reality technology to provide gamers with high-quality and immersive interactions.

In October 2022, AEXLAB held a major tournament for their new competitive VR game VAIL VR. The event ran for six weeks, with over 200 teams battling it out online to secure their spot in the LAN Finals held in Miami. Superblue Miami, an illustrious digital art gallery, partnered with the event to allow attendees to enjoy a full day of activities, with all the live matches showcased alongside several world-renowned artists’ work. With the official esports league launch in 2023, AEXLAB wanted to bring together the top creators, players, and brands in the VR community under one roof to foster a new era of gaming events. It is planned to be a continued annual event hosted across different cities worldwide to showcase the exciting world of competitive VR.

The event saw esports leaders and respected VR brands come together to share an event of competitive VR gaming with both a tournament and convention-style atmosphere. Activations from brands such as Smash Drums, Redpill, bHaptics, and many more were in attendance, allowing people to interact with esteemed VR brands. Entertainment was also provided thanks to the DJ and Youtuber, Thrillseeker, who played a set during the halftime show.

Initially introduced in November 2022 on SteamVR as an Early Access title and later on Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro via the Meta App Lab, VAIL VR has undergone seven years of meticulous development and community-driven iterations. Now, stepping out of its early access phase, VAIL VR will be available for $29.99 USD, marking a significant milestone in the VR gaming industry.

“The journey of bringing VAIL VR to life has been nothing short of exhilarating. We are thrilled to finally unveil the culmination of years of hard work and dedication to the VR community, said Jonathan Ovadia, CEO of AEXLAB, a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree. “With VAIL VR, we aim to deliver an immersive gaming experience that pushes the boundaries of virtual reality.”

VAIL VR 1.0 introduces Quick Play matchmaking, enabling players to seamlessly join games and enjoy the thrill of competition without delay. The new progression system, ranging from levels 0 to 50, rewards players with not just weapons, sights, and emblems but also exclusive weapon and character skins, adding layers of customization and strategy. Additionally, VAIL now integrates leaderboards and comprehensive stats tracking, challenging players to ascend daily, weekly, and all-time rankings, showcasing their prowess and progress in the VAIL universe.

“Launching on the Meta Quest App is an important milestone for the groundbreaking team at AEXLAB. There’s nothing like VAIL VR out there on the market,” says Jeff Ransdell, Founder and Managing Director at Fuel Venture Capital.

The founders decided to go all-in and full-time on development, and in 2021 they launched an equity crowdfunding campaign. More than 1,500 people, many of them gamers, invested $2.5 million.

Following the crowdfunding success, Fuel Venture Capital led the $5 million Series A round which closed in the summer of 2023. The funds allowed the AEXLAB founders to to scale up their development team as they prepared to launch VAIL VR. The round also included real estate developer Craig Robins, as well as crypto investors Loomdart of eGirl Capital, Subversive Capital, and Valor Equity Partners.

You can start playing now here.

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10
Feb, 2024

By Nikki Cabus

StatusPRO announces $20M Series A Round Led by GV to Continue Revolutioning Sports Through XR

Read Time 5 Minutes

StatusPRO, Inc. announced $20 million in new funding, one of the largest Series A of any VR gaming company to date, led by GV (Google Ventures).

The Miami-based StatusPRO is a sports technology and gaming company that uses real-time player data to create authentic extended reality experiences using technologies such as augmented, mixed, and virtual reality. The company provides a suite of training and gaming products that revolutionize the way coaches, players, and fans experience their favorite sport. StatusPRO is minority-owned and led, where almost half of its employees in the United States are former athletes.

StatusPRO’s ties to the NFL and the NFLPA began in its club locker rooms when co-founders and former elite football players Troy Jones and Andrew (Hawk) Hawkins had a vision to develop Pre Game Prep, a tool that would bring the brand’s proprietary technology to NFL teams with the goal of improving the athlete training experience, which is now being utilized by NFL teams. The company’s investors include notables such as Naomi Osaka, LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Paul Wachter, Drake, Lamar Jackson, along with investment groups Greycroft, TitletownTech, Verizon Ventures, Haslam Sports Group, 49ers Enterprises KB Partners, and SC Holdings.

StatusPRO is joining Google Ventures‘ investment portfolio of successful tech, healthcare, and consumer companies, asserting its spot as a standout and growing VR company in the space. GV provides venture capital funding to bold new companies. Across the fields of life science, enterprise technology, consumer products and services, and frontier technology, GV’s portfolio companies aim to improve lives and transform industries. GV’s team of world-class engineers, designers, physicians, scientists, marketers, and investors work together to provide startups with exceptional support. Launched as Google Ventures in 2009, GV is the venture capital arm of Alphabet, Inc. GV helps startups interface with Google, providing unique access to the world’s best technology and talent. GV has over $8 billion under management.

“No matter if its virtual reality or spatial computing, our vision at StatusPRO is to define first-person sports and deliver experiences that truly embody the emotion, competition and sense of community that comes with being a professional athlete,” said Troy Jones, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of StatusPRO. “The investment from GV, Dream, and all other syndicates in the round, further validates the opportunity to leverage emerging technology to innovate the way fans interact with their favorite sports and define a new form of engagement that brings current and future fans closer to the game.”

After two years of laying a foundation in the sports gaming industry and establishing a new genre, first-person sports, StatusPRO will use the additional capital to broaden development into new sports titles while continuing to enhance its modes and features and further improve its cutting-edge technology. The round includes additional funding from India’s renowned sports-tech giant Dream Sports, Minnesota Vikings Owners Mark & Zygi Wilf’s Wise Ventures, JDS Sports, and Alumni Ventures, with participation from existing investors including LeBron James, Drake, Maverick Carter, Main Street Advisors, Haslam Sports Group and more.

In 2022, the Black-founded StatusPRO launched the first-ever NFL and NFLPA-licensed virtual reality (VR) simulation gaming franchise, NFL PRO ERA, and made its mark on the sports gaming category by allowing players to experience what it feels like to be on the field playing as QB of their favorite NFL team. This immersive, first-person simulation brings fans closer to the gridiron by giving them a professional football player’s perspective through VR technology. Last October, the franchise, which highlighted NFL MVP and All Pro QB Lamar Jackson as its cover athlete, saw an evolution that introduced new features such as head-to-head multiplayer gameplay so players could interact, connect, and compete against one another in the virtual world.

NFL PRO ERA is one of the most successful sports franchises in VR history. Since launch, StatusPRO has garnered over 1,000,000 users and players have spent an average of 41 minutes in game, estimated to be 2x longer compared to VR industry averages. As one of the top VR studios, StatusPRO has not only produced the fastest selling sports title in VR history but is a top title on the Meta Quest platform (top 10 in sales). NFL PRO ERA is among the most successful Black-founded gaming franchises ever.

Other substantial new investments came from a diverse group of athletes, entertainers, firms, and industry leaders including Myles Garrett, David Grutman, Bobby Wagner, Jeff Stibel, Peter Delgrosso, Cameron Jordan, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Crystal Hayslett, Devale Ellis, TitletownTech, Black Angel Group, Life Line Family Heritage Fund, Sun Technology Investors, Andre Gaines of Cinemation Studios, and the Fuller Brothers of 6408 Ventures, among others.

“StatusPRO is building the next generation of sports and gaming entertainment through cutting-edge virtual reality. The company’s unique technology-driven approach and meaningful partnerships have resulted in strong early growth and product traction,” said M.G Siegler, Venture Partner at GV. “Troy Jones and Andrew Hawkins have built an impressive team and track record of execution in a short time, and we’re thrilled to support StatusPRO as they move the VR gaming industry forward.”

VR gaming continues to grow in popularity. The global VR gaming market is projected to grow from $7.92 billion in 2021 to $53.44 billion in 2028 at a CAGR of 31.4% in forecast period 2021-2028 period. With this projected growth, StatusPRO prepares for ongoing customer acquisition and retention while continuing to solidify the company as the innovative leader redefining the sports gaming world and eyeing global expansion in the sports VR market with a focus on future sports IP.

“As a former professional athlete, working with a dedicated team of people who have all participated in sports and worked for years across the sports business industry at a high level, we understand what it takes to compete and win,” said Andrew Hawkins, co-founder and President of StatusPRO. “We believe that VR is the innovative answer to help allow fans globally to see and experience what it’s like to be a Pro. This is just the beginning for StatusPRO and paves the way for us to enter additional sectors of sports VR, opening doors for us to explore other professional sports avenues and teams.”

StatusPRO’s NFL PRO ERA is available on the Meta Quest, Official PlayStation™, Pico, and Steam Store.

For more information on StatusPRO, please visit https://www.status.pro

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15
May, 2023

By Nikki Cabus

University of Miami students among finalists at this year’s AWE XR Prize Challenge on Fighting Climate Change

Read Time 4 Minutes

The University of Miami‘s The Mangrove City project is among this year’s finalists for the AWE 2023 XR Challenge. 

Mangrove City is a VR experience designed for middle school students to explore the crucial role of mangrove forests in protecting coastal communities and mitigating climate change. The VR experience was developed by a team of University faculty, staff members, and students as a part of UM’s XR Initiative active in the fields of architecture, health care, sustainability, climate change, art history, behavioral research, human-computer interfaces, UI/UX, new media, and narrative/storytelling research.

Augmented World Expo. or AWE, launched the “XR Prize Challenge: Fight Climate Change” in October 2022. The challenge gives subject matter experts, engineers, entrepreneurs, technologists, and other professionals an avenue where they can use XR technology to visualize information and create potential solutions to fight climate change. A group or individual has a chance at winning a cash prize of $100,000.

There were four distinct categories under which entrants could submit their nominations. These categories were:
  1. Replacing Wasteful Material Consumption – For solutions that demonstrate that XR is a viable medium for reducing society’s dependence on wasteful transportation, consumption of goods, and unsustainable real estate development.
  2. Visualizing The Causes & Impacts of Climate Change – For solutions that demonstrate XR’s unique ability to educate people about the causes and effects of climate change, and influence behaviors and policies to promote equity and fairness.
  3. Educating About Solutions to Climate Change – For solutions that demonstrate XR as a unique story-telling medium for giving a voice to climatologists and sustainability solutions providers, providing them with a powerful platform to educate communities and expand their reach.
  4. Optimizing Design & Execution of Climate Solutions – For solutions that demonstrate XR as a unique decision-optimization tool, enabling professionals to design and develop perfected solutions that give us the best possible chance to mitigate and reverse climate change.

In January 2023, with hundreds of submissions from around the world, 150 projects from six different continents were chosen to move onto the MVP Phase.” They had to demonstrate a minimum viable product and highlight to judges exactly how their solutions addressed aspects of:

  1. Creativity – Entrants had to demonstrate how their submissions exhibited appropriateness, quality, beauty, design, and originality, as well as highlight the uniqueness of their XR product or project as a solution for fighting climate change.
  2. Functionality – Entrants had to show how their submissions took into account a range of functional requirements, including thoughtful user experience, access, ease of use, and an innovative user interaction associated with their XR-based solutions.
  3. Impact – Entrants had to quantify the impact that their XR-based solutions would have and demonstrate how they would deliver on their promise to fight climate change, including the viability of the solution in the marketplace, its ability to be scaled, and how a solution would be demonstrated or calculated to achieve its intended effect.

Then, on May 3rd,  2023, AWE announced the finalists for the XR Prize challenge – only 11 were chosen – and the University of Miami made the cut!

AWE’s website states that “many of the finalists demonstrated innovative ways in which augmented, virtual and mixed reality technology can be used to help humanity in its fight against one of the biggest existential threats that we are facing as a species today – climate change.”

“It’s humbling to work with so many diverse teams haling from all around the globe and truly inspiring to see and experience so many creative proposals to harness XR in our fight against climate change,” said Dace Campbell, XR Prize Manager, ”

Dace is a professionally licensed architect with extensive experience developing and implementing strategy and innovation with an expertise in XR technology: researching, developing, testing, and applying XR on hundreds of successful projects. Throughout his career, Dace has been a champion for the  the use of virtual reality and augmented reality in industry. He has proven they enhance productivity, sustainability, and equity for designers, builders, and owners winning multiple awards for furthering industry excellence. 

👉🏽 Check out UM’s video here. 🎥

Each team will demonstrate their solutions at final presentations in-person in front of a live judging panel on May 30th at AWE 2023 held in Santa Clara, California. The XR Prize winner(s) will be announced on June 1 at the event during the Auggie Awards ceremony.

The judges panel includes:

  • Katerina Cizek – Award-winning documentary director whose body of work includes documenting the Digital Revolution. Cizek is also the co-founder of the Co-Creation Studio.
  • Robert Fine – Executive director and founder of the International Virtual Reality and Healthcare Association (IVRHA).
  • Marina Psaros – Sustainability expert who has over a decade of experience leading climate action programs. Psaros is also Unity’s global sustainability lead.
  • Dr. Erika Woolsey – Dr. Woolsey is a marine biologist, as well as the chief scientist and co-founder of the Hydrous, a non-profit organization that uses science-based experiences and scalable solutions, such as VR, to further our understanding of and education on ocean science.
To view all 11 finalist projects selected for the final round, click here.
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AEXLAB’s VAIL VR Launches on Meta Quest Store after successful $5 million raise
StatusPRO announces $20M Series A Round Led by GV to Continue Revolutioning Sports Through XR
University of Miami students among finalists at this year’s AWE XR Prize Challenge on Fighting Climate Change