California-based leading immersive learning platform Embodied Labs has raised $3.2 million from diverse investors across aging, tech, and social impact funds.
The seed funding round was led by top tech-age investor Ziegler Link-Age Fund, and co-led by the leading immersive tech investor The Venture Reality Fund. The round also saw participation from SustainVC, a social impact fund in healthcare and education, WXR Fund, investing in women and the next wave of computing, and ETF@JFFLabs, a social impact fund that invests in technologies that close skill gaps and improve economic mobility.
Founded in 2016 by Carrie Shaw, Embodied Labs is the leading immersive learning platform on aging population health issues training home care, senior living, medical and nursing schools, hospitals and employers interested in educating HR departments to better support its caregiving employees. Embodied Labs uses the immersive experience of virtual reality to put health care providers and caregivers into the perspectives of the patient and other members of the care team.
Embodied Labs aims to revolutionize training for the aging care workforce by changing the way professional and family caregivers view – and care for – older adults. The company uses virtual reality technology to put healthcare professionals and family caregivers into the body and mind of those who are challenged with lifespan aging issues, such as Alzheimer’s, age-related vision and hearing loss, Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia, and end-of-life decisions.
Giving a statement on the latest development, Carrie Shaw, Founder and CEO of Embodied Labs, said,
“In addition to being oversubscribed in our initial investment round, we are thrilled with our unique mix of investors who have proven expertise across the convergence of aging, emerging technology, social impact, female empowerment and the need to transform our workforce training methods in health and aging care.”
Embodied Labs’ vision is of a ‘world where every member of the care team is heard, equipped, and valued. Its training mission is twofold: enhance person-centred care through intellectual and instinctual behaviour change and help long-term care providers recruit and retain a quality caregiver workforce, according to its press release.
Commenting on the investment, John Hopper, Chief Investment Officer, Zeigler Link-Age Fund, said in a statement,
“One of the target attributes we look for in our investment portfolio companies is a differentiated solution with broad market potential. We are leading this investment round for Embodied Labs because it delivers a unique solution across our limited partners’ spectrum of senior living, home care, hospice and hospitals to train a workforce that spans four generations. Using this innovative VR tool to attract and retain valuable talent puts providers ahead of the curve operationally and with the customers.”
Marco DeMiroz, Co-founder and General partner of The Venture Reality Fund, also issued a statement saying,
“Embodied Labs is at the intersection of immersive tech and age-tech innovation to establish its leadership in this huge market opportunity. What attracted us to invest in Embodied Labs is its unique focus in VR to deliver transformative training in a turnkey tech-sophisticated package based on its comprehensive and innovative platform that is already receiving significant adoption by a traditionally tech-phobic long-term care.”
Embodied Labs works closely with health care, gerontology, medical and clinical scientist experts as well as seasoned Hollywood filmmakers for powerful storytelling. Its solution has won the National AARP Caregiving Innovation Challenge, The United Healthcare & AARP OpenIDEO Caregiving for Dementia Challenge, The US Department of Education EdSim Challenge and The GlobalIXR in Education Prize Challenge funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
