Here Are 10 AR, VR Startups To Watch In 2024

Prisms of Reality, Medivis and Prevu3D are among the standout startups in virtual, augmented and extended reality.

Virtual reality content for math students. Augmented reality to aid with surgery. And 3-D digital twins of industrial facilities.

No matter what you call the technology behind these startups—VR, AR, digital twins, industrial metaverse, spatial computing, extended reality (XR), mixed reality (MR)—they are showing that innovation in this space is not solely in the hands of the tech giants.

CRN has looked for some of the coolest startups in VR, AR and similar spaces, giving emphasis to companies within five years of their founding date and that have raised new funding rounds as they enter 2024.

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XR Startups In 2024

Although generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) dominated 2023, and metaverse was more of a talking point in 2022, there have been recent signs that XR can gain more interest looking ahead and that a channel motion will be the way to scale the technology.

Microsoft in 2023 announced that an industrial metaverse offering is part of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program (MACPP).

And Apple’s Vision Pro spatial computer, unveiled in June and expected to launch in February, has renewed buzz around the possibilities of AR and MR.

But among the startups giving chase to the giants in terms of what AR can look like in the real world, the companies to make this CRN list include:

Here’s more on the top startups to watch in this space in 2024.

Prisms of Reality

San Francisco

Co-Founder, CEO: Anurupa Ganguly

The executives behind Prisms of Reality believe that science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education underestimates the importance of spatial reasoning and the ability to abstract from physicality.

They hope to correct this through subscriptions to VR headset content around geometry, ratios, fractions, probability, periodic functions, quadratics and other math concepts, with content aimed at learners 13 and older, according to the startup. Users can leverage 3-D experiences to see representations of graphs, tables and equations.

The startup is at work on content for high-school chemistry, biology and physics, according to Prisms.

In January, Prisms landed a $12.5 million Series A round of funding from Andreessen Horowitz. At the time, the startup’s content was in more than 100 school districts across 26 states, with more than 80,000 student learners.

Ganguly co-founded Prisms in 2020. She previously worked at Success Academy Charter Schools for about three years, leaving with the title of director of math and engineering, according to her LinkedIn account.

Praxis Labs

New York

Co-Founder, CEO: Elise Smith

Praxis Labs offers VR Software as a Service as an immersive learning platform to help thousands of users develop soft skills for equity and inclusion.

The goal of Praxis’ programming is to build empathy, help users navigate workplace scenarios and reflect on experiences.

In June, the startup raised an undisclosed amount of money from Accenture—No. 1 on CRN’s 2023 Solution Provider 500—as part of the Project Spotlight initiative.

In November, Praxis launched its GenAI-powered “pivotal practice” product to train people on giving actionable feedback. The product gives users five- to 10-minute experiences where they practice feedback for performance reviews and team meetings.

Smith co-founded the startup in 2019. Her resume includes about two years with the diverse leaders team at NewSchools Venture Fund. She also worked at IBM for about three years, leaving in 2016 with the title of Watson ecosystem education lead, according to her LinkedIn account.

ManageXR

San Francisco

Founder, CEO: Luke Wilson

ManageXR provides a management platform for VR and AR devices, granting the ability to distribute content, customize user experiences and troubleshoot devices from a central point.

Users can track device statuses, Wi-Fi connections, locations and installed content. So far, ManageXR is in more than 4,000 cities and 100 countries, with use cases in enterprise, education, health care and more.

ManageXR has looked to the channel as part of its go-to-market strategy, with partners including SHI, Insight and CDW, according to the startup. Its partner program is open to resellers, MSPs and provisioning partners, among other business models.

The startup has been working on new features, including recently enhanced release channels to give more control over application distribution with device limits, adding more content partners and a new ability to set expiration dates on shared apps, according to ManageXR.

Planned features include user-level device authentication and single sign-on and screen recording and capture in VR on the home screen, among other capabilities.

Wilson founded ManageXR in 2019, according to his LinkedIn account. He previously founded Mighty Immersion, which assisted health-care providers with VR experiences for patients.

Prevu3D

Montreal

Founder, CEO: Nicolas Morency

Prevu3D aims to provide businesses with digital twins generated from 3-D scans of facilities.

The benefit of these twins, per Prevu3D, is the ability to quickly try new design iterations, mitigate risks, improve employee training and increase safety.

So far, the startup has seen use cases in food and beverage, automotive and transportation, oil and gas, manufacturing and other verticals, according to Prevu3D. The startup has a partner program for scanning service partners.

Prevu3D raised $10 million at the start of the year to accelerate deployment. Cycle Capital led the round. Brightspark Ventures and Desjardins Capital participated.

Since then, Prevu3D has launched its RealityMesh offering for Nvidia Omniverse, released v3.20 of its software and integrated an automated blurring function on its cloud processing engine, among other advancements.

Morency founded Prevu3D in 2017, according to his LinkedIn account. He previously worked at Eolpack for about three years, leaving with the title of research and development junior engineer.

Squint

San Jose, Calif.

Founder, CEO: Devin Bhushan

Squint’s technology seeks to improve frontline training by adding media-rich digital instructions to the real world. Users can convert videos to AR guides with procedures.

The company’s product can translate instructions in 35-plus languages, respond to user questions about official procedures and track progress on assigned tasks around training, maintenance and more.

Squint’s technology has been used in oil and gas, food and beverage, automotive, heavy industries, energy and other verticals.

Preparing Squint for the new year, in November the startup said that it had raised $13 million in Series A financing. Sequoia Capital led the round. Menlo Ventures participated.

Bhushan founded Squint in 2021. His resume includes more than three years with Splunk, leaving with the title of AR engineering manager, according to his LinkedIn account.

Red 6

Orlando, Fla.

Founder, CEO: Daniel Robinson

Red 6 offers AR technology that works outdoors and in dynamic environments, including for air combat training and entertainment.

In June, Red 6 landed a $70 million Series B round of funding to continue working on its technology, which gives pilots the feeling of physically flying airplanes while providing realistic, scalable, simulated training, according to the startup.

RedBird Capital Partners led the round. Participants included Boeing’s AEI Horizon X Fund, Lockheed Ventures, Accelerator Investments through the Disney Accelerator program, actor Robert Downey Jr.'s Downey Labs and more.

Since the funding round, Red 6 has landed a project with Korea Aerospace Industries and Lockheed Martin to implement the startup’s technology into the T50 platform. It also has signed a strategic agreement with the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force and the government’s corporate venturing arm to supply AR technologies.

In September, Red 6 and Boeing flew AR in a TA-4J tactical aircraft, according to the startup.

Robinson founded Red 6 in 2018. He previously worked at Gus Robinson Developments for about seven years, serving as CEO for about four years and leaving as chairman, according to his LinkedIn account.

Worlds

Dallas

Co-Founder, CEO: Dave Copps

Worlds promises customers industrial metaverse building tools. Users can measure, analyze and build automation into ground floor operations with the startup’s platform, according to Worlds.

The startup builds digital twins of real-world operations and then identifies critical variations through AI technology, correcting inefficiencies, production issues and safety concerns, according to Worlds.

Worlds is partnered with Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Chevron and others. In December, Worlds inked a new partnership with TimkenSteel.

The startup raised a $21.2 million Series A1 round of funding at the start of 2023. It also created a strategic advisory board in the middle of the year to ready it for growth in manufacturing, government, defense and other industries. Executives on the board come from Alteryx, Tyson Foods, FedEx and other organizations.

Copps co-founded Worlds in 2018, according to his LinkedIn account. He previously founded Brainspace in 2007, led it as CEO and sold it to Cyxtera Technologies in 2017.

Leucine

New York

Co-Founder, CEO: Vivek Gera

Leucine promises users the ability to create a digital twin of pharmaceutical manufacturing shop floors with real-time performance monitoring, compliance management and actionable insight.

In October, the startup raised a $7 million Series A round of funding to continue development on AI capabilities and reach more customers. Ecolab led the round. Pravega Ventures, Axilor Ventures, Techstars and angel investors participated.

Leucine’s platform offers audit-ready report building, out-of-the-box data connectors for integrations, immutable logbooks for data integrity and batch traceability and ontology and process interlocks, among other features. The startup counts more than 250 manufacturing facilities worldwide among its users, according to Leucine.

The startup is at work on the Leucine10x AI copilot, which aims to leverage AI to speed up root cause analyses, find potential deviations and reduce manual work, according to Leucine.

Gera co-founded Leucine in 2019. Before that, he was an independent compliance consultant to pharmaceutical and medical devices companies for about a year, according to his LinkedIn account. He worked at Rio Tinto for about two years, leaving in 2015 as a process control engineer.

Medivis

New York

Co-Founders: Dr. Osamah Choudhry, Dr. Christopher Morley

Medivis is part of a trend of startups bringing hands-free AR to the operating room, but compared with its contemporaries has has a boost of star power thanks to big-name investors such as Disney’s Bob Iger and basketball player Kevin Durant.

The startup married AR and computer vision for technology meant to improve surgical care. Its SurgicalAR platform allows surgeons to holographically render MRI and CT imaging, connecting to doctors’ picture archiving and communication system servers.

So far, Medivis counts more than 500 surgeries planned and rehearsed and has been deployed at more than 40 hospitals and medical schools, according to the startup. Its AnatomyX product is available for training students in surgery.

In June, Medivis announced the completion of its $20 million Series A round of funding. Thrive Capital led the round. Initialized Capital and Mayo Clinic participated. Additional investors include Iger, Durant, Dr. Robert Spetzler, Hugo Barra and Coalition Operators, according to the startup.

Choudhry, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at New York University (NYU) Langone Health, and Morley, a radiologist, co-founded the startup in 2016.

Morley is also a body imager at Radiology Associates of South Florida (RASF), according to the group’s website.

Rypplzz

Los Angeles

Co-Founder, CEO: Joshua Pendrick

Rypplzz (pronounced Ripples) is the creator of the Interlife geolocation platform and spatial computing system that connects digital objects and physical space for use cases in sports and entertainment, real estate and cybersecurity.

It enters 2024 with $3 million in seed funding raised in December to scale the product and hire more technical staffers. KB Partners led the round with participation from Triptyq Capital.

Entertainers can leverage the platform for new digital revenue and reaching fans at home. Property owners can use the platform for crowd management, safety and monetizing unused real estate.

And Rypplzz helps fortify cybersecurity for smartphones and IoT devices through geo-targeting and blockchains, according to the startup.

The startup is still early in its technology, running pilots and teaming up with musician Grimes on an AR rave at Ultra Music Festival. Among its partners are Cisco Sports Media Group and SkyPath Security.

Pendrick co-founded Rypplzz in 2016, according to his LinkedIn account. He previously worked at Salesforce for about three years, leaving with the title of business transformation consultant.