Some entrepreneurs are shaped by opportunity; others are forged through setbacks. Caleb Counts, co-founder of Connected Cannabis, embodies the latter. In this episode of Keep Going, Counts shared his journey from navigating the gray areas of cannabis sales as a teenager to leading a multi-state cannabis operation. His story is one of perseverance, reinvention, and a refusal to quit, even when faced with extraordinary challenges.

Setbacks as Starting Points

Counts’s journey began long before the legal cannabis market took form. Selling cannabis illegally as a teenager and young adult helped him fund his college education. But by 2003, he shifted gears, stepping into real estate, only to be pushed out during the 2008 financial crisis...

In this episode of the Startup Show I sit down with Catherine Seys, Director of Excurio, to discuss how her company is transforming the way we experience history and culture. Excurio specializes in creating immersive expeditions, leveraging VR to transport users to different times and places in a deeply engaging and interactive way.

What is Excurio?

Excurio’s immersive expeditions are 45-minute virtual reality (VR) adventures set in large, dedicated spaces. Unlike traditional VR setups, these experiences allow users to physically roam freely without worrying about running into walls or other obstacles. This is made possible by advanced tracking technologies that map users’ movements and ensure a smooth, collision-free experience.

Current venues offer experiences such as:

• Traveling to ancient Egypt during the Pharaohs' era.

• Exploring Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

• Witnessing the evolution of life on Earth, in collaboration with the Museum of Natural History in Paris.

• Re-living the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874 Paris.

The Technology Behind the Magic

Excurio’s innovative platform incorporates black-and-white markers on walls, enabling headsets to pinpoint user locations in real time. This system allows for a highly interactive and natural VR experience. Users see each other as avatars, ensuring seamless social interactions during the experience.

A Focus on Cultural Accessibility

A standout feature of Excurio’s expeditions is their commitment to blending scholarly accuracy with engaging storytelling. For instance:

• The Horizon of Khufu project involved collaboration with Harvard Egyptologist Peter D’Armanuelle Lyon to accurately reconstruct the Great Pyramid, even including restricted areas and recreating scenes from ancient funerals.

• Their Life Chronicles experience worked closely with paleontologists to build authentic paleo landscapes.

• Tonight with the Impressionists brings art history to life, allowing users to interact with Impressionist painters before they achieved fame.

This approach makes cultural and historical knowledge more accessible and exciting to a broad audience.

The Business Model and Growth

Excurio has demonstrated that VR can be both impactful and profitable. With venues operating successfully worldwide, the company is setting a benchmark for VR-based location-based entertainment (LBE). They’ve also achieved a significant technical milestone: hosting more than 100 simultaneous VR users in a single space.

Looking ahead, Excurio plans to:

1. Enhance technology, improving interactivity within their experiences.

2. Open their platform to allow other creators to develop immersive expeditions.

3. Expand their catalog, with a new title expected in April 2025.

Challenges and Opportunities

Creating immersive experiences isn’t without its difficulties. Excurio balances technological innovation with historical and cultural accuracy, working with experts to ensure authenticity. For example, recreating historical characters involves capturing their beliefs, emotions, and interactions without misrepresenting them.

To learn more about Excurio, visit their website at excurio.com.