Extended Reality (XR) is a field that mixes virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality that promises to create emotionally engaging, interactive experiences with purpose, that generate profit and measurable social impact.
Factory 42, is an immersive technology and experience studio, that combines the science of stories with the magic of technology to create Impact Entertainment. They bring together world-class storytellers, technology companies, and academics to explore and pioneer cutting-edge immersive experiences through ground-breaking storytelling.
Stephen Stewart is the Chief Technology Officer at Factory 42 with responsibilities for research and development strategy and delivery, product quality and delivery, IT and IS across the company, and he is the named Data Protection Officer. He wants to use the support from the Shott Scale up Accelerator to learn more techniques around innovation and R&D road mapping, building high performance team environments, and scaling technology teams. He plans to use the personalised mentoring to build on previous personal development training and highlight key growth areas. He notes that: “Learning from, and sharing experiences with, other programme members I hope will also improve my leadership skills – I’ve found these networking opportunities to be invaluable in the past.”
Factory 42 are at an inflexion point where they are moving as a company from a discovery phase of understanding what it takes to build XR consumer experiences, into commercialising this knowledge into a suite of products. The target market of XR has a $476bn TAM, with companies worth $12.5tn spending billions to define this new space. Factory 42 expect to grow rapidly over the next 18 months, so the Shott Scale up Accelerator comes at an ideal time in the company’s history to help grow their headcount, create a more mature sales and commercial pipeline, and expand their product portfolio into more global locations.
