With record high unemployment, it’s becoming even more important to provide a path for jobseekers to learn new skills fast and retain them more easily. TRANSFRVR, one such company working to bring immersive VR learning to accredited job training programs across the United States, today announced its secured $12 million in Series A financing.
Transfr says the latest funding round will help scale its VR training programs, which are designed to “boost economic mobility in regions most heavily impacted by skills gaps and unemployment,” the company says in a press statement.
Currently, Transfr is already working with Alabama’s AIDT, a workforce agency, and the Alabama Community College System to use its curriculum and Oculus Quest to provide skills training for careers that don’t require four-year degrees, such as automotive manufacturing, construction and other skilled trades.
“By simulating on the-job experience, we’re helping to transform skills training into a more engaging and immersive experience and bridge the gap between work-based learning and classroom instruction,” said Bharanidharan Rajakumar, founder and CEO of Transfr. “Empowering high-potential workers with access to hands-on, practical training is unlocking better careers and higher wages—regardless of their employment history.”
Transfr’s VR learning technology and assessment tools are also being used by workforce agencies, schools, colleges, and employers across the United States, the company says, including Lockheed Martin, and Mazda Toyota Manufacturing.
The Series A was led by Firework Ventures, joining existing investors Album VC, Imagination Capital, professional golfer Greg Norman, education executive Stuart Udell, Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, and Degreed founder David Blake. Firework co-founder Ashley Bittner, a former Department of Education appointee, was tapped to join the company’s board.