The investment will be used to speed up development.
Virtual reality (VR) startup Pitchboy specialises in immersive training, focusing on sales and customer service. This week the company has announced the closure of a seed funding round, securing $675K of investment.
Based in New York and Paris, Pitchboy provides customized training for a range of customer-facing roles; ideal for sales associates, customer service teams, medical device and pharmaceutical sales representatives, training centers, retail and hospitality staff and recruitment professionals.
The recent seed funding round included Philippe Joffard, ex-CEO of Lafuma (Euronext LAF) and Christophe Cremer, founder of meilleurtaux.com, with the investment being used speed up its development road map as well as hiring new talent.
“Learning and development professionals have struggled for years with corporate training. Traditional class or one-on-one training is costly, hard to measure and you can’t scale it,” says Homeric de Sarthe, CEO of Pitchboy in a statement. “It rarely makes a lasting impact either: 70% of learners forget what they have been taught within 24 hours of learning. We took all these findings and created an immersive learning solution which addresses all these issues, at a fraction of the cost these companies usually pay.”
The Pitchboy platform is an artificial intelligence-led, voice-activated software solution for training, at scale, ideal for enterprise use. Only founded this year, Pitchboy’s portfolio includes Orange, Credit Agricole and Sixt (a car rental provider).
Thanks to a proprietary natural language algorithm, users are able to speak to virtual customers who will then respond with life-like answers. Along the way, text prompts guide the user throughout the session, and every scenario is filmed with real actors at the client’s store or office space for a more realistic feel. The platform offers a risk-free environment to practice sales pitches and objection handling, while learning directors can monitor individual progression over time. And at the end of each session, Pitchboy provides an assessment grade, along with details on how the user can improve their skills to close more sales.
Pitchboy is just one of a number of companies looking to use VR in more ways than just entertainment. UK-based startup VRtuoso, for example, is using VR to make business presentations far more engaging.
Quelle:
https://www.vrfocus.com/2019/05/vr-sales-training-company-pitchboy-closes-675k-seed-funding-round/
