Venture: Fectar
Fectar is a VR and AR platform focused on creating seamless experiences across multiple devices and users in various realities. Fectar Studio, their user-friendly tool, caters to all experience levels, offering 3D templates for beginners and powerful tools for advanced users. The platform positions its value on being: intuitive, measurable with analytics, collaborative, cross-platform, accessible, and scalable. As for its application to education, Fectar currently supports thousands of institutions, providing a free app for smartphones, tablets, and AR/VR devices. It simplifies AR and VR learning (especially as it is cross-platform and integrates multiple devices), making it accessible from primary schools to universities. Fectar Studio allows educators to create and disseminate AR/VR to students, creating a dynamic environment for remote teaching sessions.
Founders: Eugène Kuipers & Rens Lensvelt
Rens is a self-proclaimed, “playful developer and entrepreneur” (LinkedIn). He is a co-founder, CTO and Senior Researcher at Fectar. His experiences include applications for kids, for training purposes, and for marketing. Prior to Fectar, he spent 7 years with two different companies (one of which he owned) as a game developer. Eugene is the CEO and co-founder of Fectar. He brings a unique, but complimentary skill set to the management team. Eugene writes, “My expertise lies in entrepreneurial management, investor relations, internet, marketing, eLearning, Augmented Reality, finance and investments. I commonly work on projects related to start-ups, turn-arounds, strategic evaluation, preparing a company for investment and business development” (LinkedIn). Prior to Fectar, he has worked as a director for various companies, including the Dutch Learning Company for four years, as well as a manager/business manager for several others.
Rens and Eugene have assembled an advisory board of three men who also have experience as entrepreneurs in the technology space and have a focus on innovation and SAAS (software as a service). I believe the two founders seem to have experience that would facilitate a successful technology venture, striking a balance between experience in innovative technology (AR/VR and game design) with leadership and business experience required to build a product that will generate income and be self-sustaining.
Reflection
From the EVA/VA perspective, I would be interested to see how they can diversify their team to include members with experience in education and educational technology as well as include more women in key decision making roles. We know that according to StatsCan, females comprise just over 69% of the educational workforce in Canada, yet only four women are included on their team website, none of which are on the advisory team. Sould Fectar be looking to drive innovation and maintain value in this market (or any market for that matter), the founders might benefit from a focus on diversifying their team.
Websites Consulted:
https://exhibitors.ces.tech/8_0/#/
https://innovationorigins.com/en/fectar-opens-up-virtual-world-to-any-business/
https://fectar.com/
https://fectar.com/use-cases/education/
https://fectar.com/team/
https://fectar.com/advisory-board/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/eugenekuipers/details/experience/ |https://www.linkedin.com/in/rens-lensvelt-8293057/
https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis/job-market-reports/ontario/sectoral-profile-educational-services
Interesting post! It looks like Fectar already has a strong foothold in the AR/VR markets – a good sign that the founders are strong role models for would-be entrepreneurs. Rens and Eugene have broadened the scope of their product to target multiple markets: education, manufacturing industry, etc. As mentioned in your post, their differing backgrounds and skillsets seem to compliment one another. I think this is a valuable example for the would-be entrepreneur.
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for sharing about Fectar and the founders. As you said, Eugène Kuipers & Rens Lensvelt seem to compliment each other very well. Lensvelt with a more technical background for the simulations themselves, and Kuipers with a more entrepreneurial skill set. I believe this pair represents excellent role models to would-be entrepreneurs because they show the value of finding others to support the gaps in your expertise. As you said, it would make sense statistically that some of the best supporting experts should be women, so it’s odd that there is none and I hope that is not a red flag.