September 2, 2019
Imagine a future in which architects can step inside their own designs and identify problems well before the first brick is laid; where engineers can see through walls and interior design is more immersive and impactful than ever.
That’s the future AR/VR player Inspace XR is building.
It’s developing a range of software products to transform the way buildings are designed, constructed and sold. And it’s first product, River Fox, enables architects to turn their designs in to immersive VR experiences in just one click.
Inspace XR was a top contender at one of our Investible Games events and is one of the startups we’ve invested in through the Investible Early Stage Fund. Here is more insight on what got them across the line – the factors that impressed and interested our investment committee most.
We’re a ‘founder focused’ investment firm, so we loved that Inspace XR has a passionate, high-energy and hard-working team with complementary skills. Prior to launching Inspace XR, CEO Justin Liang assessed early-stage investment opportunities in the fintech, VR and AI space for AMP Ventures while co-founder Eric Fear served as the VR lead at the Academy of Interactive Entertainment. And you can’t beat their hustle – the team spent more than 200 hours designing and testing their VR experience alone.
It’s easy to see the time they’ve put in on the product side when you consider the incredible traction they’ve had early on. The team has won big name after big name since launching in 2017 – including JLL, CBRE and Macquarie Bank and by 2018 were already earning significant revenues.
The calibre of their achievements and the speed at which they were able to make such progress as an early-stage business really stood out to us.
Another big driver in our decision to invest was Inspace XR’s unique business and product strategy, in which their SaaS subscription model is supported by commercial ‘Labs’ where they can work on new IP that can be further incorporated into their product roadmap. One example of a Lab outcome is the ‘CityViewer’ virtual reality technology. Built in conjunction with real estate giant JLL, it enables users to visualise changes in the Sydney skyline. With this two-pronged approach, the team has been able to drive commercial outcomes while also strengthening their own product development.
Inspace XR is taking a different approach to developing virtual reality solutions for the architecture and property sectors – and it was their ability to tackle a multi-billion-dollar problem that interested our team.
Most VR and AR technologies in this space focus on showcasing properties or new design features to the end customer – such as those looking to buy, invest in or remodel a home. To us, this sits more as a ‘nice to have’ technology. Inspace XR, on the other hand, is targeted toward architects who are eager to resolve costly design problems before construction begins. Being able to step inside the design with this VR technology enables architects to detect errors much sooner and improve the efficiency and ROI on the design and construction processes.
With over 2.5 million businesses across architecture, engineering and construction globally that could benefit from Inspace XR’s flagship product River Fox, the company is well-positioned to grab significant market share.
Globally, this segment represents around $8.7 billion in annual recurring revenue.
Thanks to Inspace XR’s commitment to product design and its growing partnership network, it faces a limited amount of direct competition globally and could eventually benefit from the acquisitive nature of the property and architecture industries.
If you’re an angel investor interested in early-stage invetsment opportunities like Inspace XR, apply to Club Investible.
And if you’re a startup interested in getting in from of our investor team, the best way to do so is via the Investible Games.