Two Swiss startups off to New York

RLab Accelerator was launched through a partnership between New York City and its universities and is the nation’s first city-funded center for research, education, and entrepreneurship in virtual and augmented reality and related technologies. The accelerator offers a three-month program to selected startups in XR and spatial computing. The first call for applications attracted more than 100 startups across 16 countries and only six startups make up the first cohort of the program. Among them are two Swiss startups, Apelab and holo|one.

Apelab, based in Geneva, is developing immersive technologies for content creation and education. Its software toolkit Spatial Stories allows developers, designers or anyone without coding knowledge to build fully interactive VR content quickly and efficiently within an immersive environment, and then export it to various platforms. Through the program, the startup will further develop its creation toolkit for immersive content in education and bring it to more schools.

holo|one is developing «sphere» an out-of-the-box solution for enterprise augmented reality. As a single unified platform, «sphere» is the first enterprise solution that does not rely on heavy and expensive customization. From the ground up, it is built to operate at scale, with plug-and-play integrations into a company’s existing IT ecosystem.

During a 3-month residency at RLab’s Brooklyn Navy Yard facility, the startups will receive a wide range of offers spanning from workshops and training to having access to events, education programs to meetings and targeted introductions to investors, industry partners, and researchers across RLab’s network. The goal is to build strong companies that will create opportunities for New Yorkers. The program also connects startups to mentors — including technology and innovation leaders, CEOs and investors.

(RAN)