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About Moonbeam
Our Mission
Startups avoid Enterprises because they are
Too Hard to Sell to
Emerging technology startups attempt to go straight to consumer markets because they view enterprise sales as too time consuming. Many Venture Capitalist view enterprise focused startups as unlikely to achieve a 7-10 year exit, largely due to challenges enterprises face around tech adoption. If the startup is targeting a risk adverse or heavily-regulated industry this challenge is even greater.
Technology Scouting is Serendipitous, and Returns are Hard to Measure
Corporations compete to get brash, entrepreneurial talent to bring fresh ideas to their staid brands. They open innovation labs in Silicon Valley or some other innovation economy to be where the action is. Technology scouts network and find promising companies to connect with product line owners, only to find progress too slow or the focus of the startup misaligned with corporate need. And, in the worst case, the promising talent leaves the corporation to go work for the startup.
Energy is Wasted on Business that don't Fit Diamonds in the Rough are Overlooked
For a startup, focus is essential and misdirection costly. Time spent selling to a enterprise that is not a fit can sink a startup. Likewise, a corporate innovation lab that does not produce quarterly or annual value can lose sponsorship. They need tools to organize serendipity. Further, they need to be able to have strategic and creative conversations irrespective of geographic separation.
Social Responsibility
Moonbeam helps provide tools for people with disabilities as it decreases the need to travel and have enablement technologies like automated notetaking. As part of our interest in making our app suitable for everyone, Moonbeam is currently taking part of the XR ACCESS research group.
Our concern to climate change is real: we decrease the need for business travel
We also support entrepreneurship in developing countries by decreasing the geographical barriers to innovation…following along the urge need to integrate multiple talents, cultures and experiences without any barriers.
Leadership Team
Nirav Desai
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Chief Executive Officer
Strategy & Partnership Guy – bold visionary with a road-map to catalyze innovation
A 18+ year career of helping corporations innovate.
Over 5 years running virtual reality practices and businesses.
Experience in startup mentorship (Techstars, UW Comotion Labs).
Connects industry with government and academia (Innovation Working group Co— Chair for Pacific Northwest Economic Region, Affiliate Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Washington).
Troy DeFrank
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VP of International Programming
Going Global – understanding of complex global economic development and FDI ecosystem
- Trade and investment expert with deep expertise generating business for public and private organizations in new markets.
- Portfolio of work which include dynamic economies like British Columbia, UK, Spain, and Washington State.
- Expertise in software, clean tech, aerospace, and building technology.
Phil Lamb
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CTO
Interaction & Infrastructure – front and back-end expert
- 20+ years’ experience at the cutting edge of augmented and
virtual reality, spanning fundamental research, technology transfer in a
startup environment, and multinational enterprise. -
Managed VR research & development at Mozilla Research,
including the Firefox Reality browser on standalone and PC VR systems. CTO of one of the first commercial XR companies, ARToolworks, acquired by DAQRI, and led development teams at DAQRI and Realmax.
Rajen Savjani
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VP of International Programming
Startup & Gamification Guru – producing compelling experiences
- Technology enthusiast and investor with experience in videogames, biotech, and consumer tech.
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Eighteen years of experience as a founder in multiple startups focused on film production, videogame development, career networking, and dating/relationships.
Rajen has a special passion for retrogaming, the future of food production, and productivity technology and tools.
Trond Nielsen
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Chief Operating Officer
Rigor & Process – product developer, team builder, community leader
Research scientist and leader with 18+ years in immersive technology R&D, leadership, and building product teams.
Seattle VR community leader, hosting hackathons, unconferences, meetups, and online events; collaborates and supports events around the world.
Ph.D. in Human Interface Technology from the University of Washington.
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The Crew
Filipa Matos
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Data Scientist
Ryan Park
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Virtual Reality Developer
Muhammad Usama
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Software Engineer
Joana Alemão
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Software Engineer
Bridget Swirski
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Scrum Master & Project Manager
Sean Siem
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VR Application Designer
Julian Looser
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Staff Software Engineer
Lindsay Randall
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Accelerator Program Manager
