[Startup Bharat] This edtech startup is using virtual reality-based content to have real-life impact on studen – YourStory

Today, educational institutes are increasingly using technology to make learning more interactive, fun, and exciting. In the era of digital devices, technology gives us an opportunity to enable better learning for students, and enabling Virtual Reality (VR) in education seems to be the next step in this direction.

Even when it comes to science subjects, teaching should not be limited to textbooks and visits to the labs. It is important to enable students to not only read books, but also interact with it.

To eliminate mugging up and help children understand the fundamental concepts better, four friends - Vijay Thakkar, Mayur Patel, Mehul Patel, and Dhaval Sonpal started fotonVR, an edtech startup, in December 2017.

Based out of the incubation centre of Ganpat University in Mehsana district of Gujarat, fotonVR facilitates practical experiments in the virtual world.

The startup recently won an award at the National Conference in e-Governance of India, and has been awarded the Best Startup of Gujarat Award by the CM of the state in 2018.

The founding team at fotonVR

Vijay is an Instrumentation Engineer, and previously co-founded Kachhua, an edtech startup. His brother, Dhaval, is a commerce graduate. With strong skills in finance and cost management, he joined fotonVR as the Co-founder and VP of Finance.

Vijays friend Mayur and his brother Mehul were both Aircraft maintenance engineers. Mayur started his career with Kachhua, and currently serves as the Co-founder and VP of Operations at fotonVR. Mehul is the VP of Technology. He manages all technical development of fotonVR.

Besides the co-founders, fotonVR has a team of 50-plus members. The startup has a combination of subject matter experts, technical experts, animators, 3D object designers, programmers, and market research experts with a business development team.

The fotonVR team

The startup provides VR classrooms and labs, and also makes individual kits for students.

For schools, fotonVR provides a turn-key solution that includes the hardware, setting up the classroom, software, content, and training to the teachers. The cost of setting up a classroom, along with the content, kits, and training to teachers range between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 15 lakh per classroom. Once the setup is done, fotonVR charges between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh as an annual subscription charge.

Similarly, for a single student, parents can place an order for the VR device along with the content on its website. For individual kits, the pricing starts from Rs 50,000 Rs 30,000 for the device, and Rs 20,000 for the content.

The startup said it launched the individual kit last month, and already has a couple of users on-board.

Students inside a fotonVR classroom

Currently, fotonVR has on-boarded six schools four in Gujarat and two in Karnataka, with more than 2,000 students. According to Vijay, government and self-financed schools are taking interest in its product.

fotonVR generated around Rs 1 crore in revenue last year, and is targeting Rs 36 crore, by reaching out to more schools and investing more in marketing. The startup has received seed funding of Rs 1 crore from Ganpat Biznovation, and plans to raise pre-Series A round soon.

We once visited a deaf-and-dumb school to give them an opportunity to learn through virtual reality. The students tried touching the objects and enjoying the concepts. A teacher later told us that due to safety concerns, these students cannot be taken for industrial visits.It was then that we realised that we have not just created a product, but we have created values, Vijay says.

A student learning to use fotonVR

Players like classVR, MEL Chemistry, and Google Expeditions provide content aligned with school syllabus, covering science activities for students between the ages of eight and 15. However, according to the startup, what differentiates it from its competitors is its 360-degree images and video content.

As fotonVRs clients are physical schools, they are facing challenges since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, with schools being shut and not wanting to investing right now. However, the demand for individual kits have gone up, and the startups expects to make sales in that stream. Additionally, fotonVR plans to expand its services to 40 countries. It has already tied up with educational companies in Thailand.

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[Startup Bharat] This edtech startup is using virtual reality-based content to have real-life impact on studen - YourStory