Meet Intensify Scholar - Ryan Beckmand

What is your start up?

Sciosity is offering Virtual Reality learning solutions for universities, secondary schools, training entities, and large companies around WA.

We take what currently exists as course content, reform it into simulations, grant access to our analytics platform, then exclusively licence the simulations to the entity. We’re aiming to bridge the engagement gap facing WA’s mostly outdated methods of education and training delivery methods, by applying cutting edge technology such as virtual reality to existing course structures. Our vision is that we can make WA’s youth more skilled, workplace ready, and engaged to further education than we’ve ever seen before. 

What obstacles and challenges have you faced as an entrepreneur?

A great many!

• Finance : bootstrapping for 10 months without revenue or investment, relying solely on savings and part-time job income, has not made things easy.
• Recruitment! This took a while given I had to address every startups dilemma of finding amazing people, with fine-tuned skills.
• Last but not least, commercialisation is a big obstacle. I never expected it to be, however I underestimated the difficulty involved in commercialising a very advanced, expensive, and new type of technology into the market.

My plan is to seize everything in front of us but also to take baby steps and stay grounded. 

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Did you achieve the goals you set out to through the scholarship?

I would definitely say its been a success. My goals for the scholarship period were essentially Research and Development, and Business Develop

ment. Regarding R&D, and we most definitely fulfilled our goal, and have built some absolutely amazing virtual reality simulation technology. Regarding BD, we ended up securing a number of potential clients and are working to get started on building simulations for them as soon as possible.

What are your goals and plans for the remainder of the scholarship?

The next few weeks are very exciting! We will soon be embarking on an international, first-of-its-kind joint venture, we will be securing our first series of seed capital from an investor, and we will be securing some WA based institutions as initial clients. If this were not enough, we’re also expanding the size of our team (currently 4 other people besides myself) to encompass a few other talented individuals. Safe to say its a time of great opportunities and high stakes! My plans going ahead are to seize everything in front of us but also to take baby steps and stay grounded. 

Applications for Round 9 of the Spacecubed Intensify Scholarship (commencing in February 2016) are now open. Find out more.

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