California-based Embodied Labs, an immersive platform using virtual reality to train senior care workers, has accumulated $3.2 million in seed funding from various sources.
Age-related technology investor Ziegler Link·Age Fund led the investment round, along with The Venture Reality Fund and SustainVC, a social impact fund in healthcare and education.
Other investors include WXR Fund, investing in women and the next wave of computing, and ETF@JFFLabs, a social impact fund that invests in technologies that close skill gaps and improve economic mobility, Embodied reported this month.
Founded in 2016, Embodied Labs uses the immersive experience of VR to put healthcare professionals into the bodies and minds of those challenged by aging issues such as cognitive decline or memory loss, age-related vision and hearing loss, neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia, and end-of-life decision-making. Its training mission is twofold: to enhance person-centered care through intellectual and instinctual behavioral change, and help long-term care providers recruit and retain a quality caregiver workforce.
From a workforce training perspective, ABI Research found enterprise training based on VR had a 75% learning retention rate, versus 10% retention from a lecture, or 15% through reading.
“One of the target attributes we look for in our investment portfolio companies is a differentiated solution with broad market potential,” said John Hopper, chief investment officer for Ziegler Link·Age Fund. “Using this innovative VR tool to attract and retain valuable talent puts providers ahead of the curve operationally and with their customers.”
