MOONHUB raises $2.6 million to lead the VR training revolution in the workplace

MOONHUB has raised $2.6M in seed funding to continue transforming workplace learning across all sectors through Virtual Reality (VR).

Founded in 2016 and led by Dami Hastrup, Vinh Ly and Hannah Sutcliffe, the London-based startup has established itself as a leading force in the UK and is now poised to expand into the burgeoning global market for VR workplace training, which consultancy PwC estimates are emerging the volume will increase to 294 billion US dollars by 2030.

MOONHUB’s success is attributed to its cutting-edge, patented VR technology, which offers learners a low-risk, highly immersive experience and provides organizations with an analytical performance overview to optimize data-driven solutions.

In response to the “great resignation” trend that has emerged from greater levels of social segregation over the past two years, organizations are increasingly adopting a people-centric approach to support employee retention and engagement. Forward-thinking learning and development managers and operations leaders are now transitioning companies from traditional in-house training models to more innovative and interactive VR platforms that can upskill employees quickly, instill more confidence in their roles, and help employees develop new skills to keep them motivated and engaged keep.

As hybrid work patterns continue to challenge traditional learning and development strategies, virtual reality can efficiently onboard and upskill employees by creating interactive and immersive experiences. With that in mind, MOONHUB’s technology has sustainability at the heart of its ethos: remotely deployable and cost-effective. In 2021, organizations’ training spend rose to over £800 per employee. When deployed at scale, VR can save organizations up to 64% in training and development expenses, and MOONHUB’s solution is tailored to meet these standards.

By digitally simulating lifelike scenarios, MOONHUB’s VR training platform creates a 360-degree learning environment with quantitative performance data collected on dashboards for managers to analyze. The real role-playing situations also enable effective knowledge transfer. With VR training designed to transform the way companies onboard and upskill employees, MOONHUB aims to leverage its first-mover advantage as companies seek to increase employee retention, performance and engagement.

The benefits of VR training over traditional training methods go well beyond the bottom line: Global consulting giant Accenture found that VR training has the potential to lead to a 75 percent higher knowledge retention rate, compared to the 5 to 10 percent that are expected traditional learning methods. The consulting firm PwC also reported that VR training is completed four times faster and that learners who have used VR training are 275 percent more confident applying the training knowledge in the workplace.

In 2020, MOONHUB received support from Miles Jacobson, Director of Sports Interactive, the company behind the Football Manager game series, as part of its $355,000 pre-seed round. Since then it has built a client portfolio that includes Just Eat, Here East at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, The Royal Opera House, Rawbank, Sports Interactive and more. In 2022, the company joined Pi Labs’ growth program to expand its operations and drive product development with the help of global technology experts, consultants and investors.

Faisal Butt, CEO and Founder of Pi Labs, said: “Since we invited MOONHUB to be a part of Pi Labs’ 2022 growth program, we are honestly ‘over the moon’ to be a part of its ambitious journey from such an early stage. We see in Dami, Vinh and Hannah the entrepreneurial flair and innovative skills that will enable MOONHUB to become a global leader in VR training technology.

“The future of the workplace remains one of the most speculative aspects of the built environment. From our perspective as proptech investors, developing workplace strategies will require companies to identify skill gaps and develop targeted training strategies for a geographically dispersed workforce. The fact that MOONHUB can be used across multiple sectors to speed up onboarding, improve performance and enhance soft skills means the market for it will be seismic for years to come. Especially as hybrid working is here to stay, almost all companies need to use VR training solutions to attract, retain and develop talent.”

Dami Hastrup, CEO of MOONHUB, said: “This is an exciting time for MOONHUB. With this seed round, we are propelling ourselves at even greater speed, and we have some excellent investors and supporters to join us on our journey. Our patent filed five years ago shows that MOONHUB has always had a laser-focused vision of what VR training in the workplace should look like. As we grow our client list and expand our standard training library, we are excited to grow our team in our quest to solidify ourselves as the leading brand in VR training.”

Matt Penneycard, Partners, Ada Ventures, said, “David Fisayo had Angel invest in MOONHUB as part of Ada’s Angel program and he did a great job of convincing Check and me that now is the time to support enterprise VR. Interest and attraction among corporate clients is tremendous, accelerated by the lock explosion in remote work in recent years. We’ve seen enterprise VR solutions over the years and have never been convinced that the demand side is big enough. All of that has changed and MOONHUB has taken to the skies as a result! We are very excited to partner with Pi Labs and support Dami and the team during this exciting time.”

With this latest deal, Pi Labs has made 22 investments using capital from its $90 million fund. The global VC caters to the next generation of proptech startups that have developed proprietary technologies to enhance every stage of the real estate value chain. The firm currently has a portfolio of 60 companies in 15 countries and four continents and plans to nearly double that over the next four years.