Bengaluru: Former Twitter MD Manish Maheshwari’s metaverse edtech startup Invact Metaversity is winding down after differences among founders over the company’s vision. Maheshwari wrote about the development in a series of tweets on Monday.
Invact Metaversity was tipped to become a 3D immersive virtual learning platform that allowed students to communicate with one another and their teachers via animated avatars. “I would also like to express my gratitude to my fellow founder, @tanaypratap, who has worked tirelessly alongside me. As we progressed, the differences also emerged between us on the vision (are we an education company or a metaverse company) & approach to achieving that vision,” Maheshwari said. He went on to add: “We are now standing at crossroads exploring possibilities such as (a) cutting the burn rate and pivoting to another idea, (b) letting one of the founders take full charge, or (c) returning the unspent capital to investors.” The venture recently raised money from 70 corporate leaders and startup founders at a valuation of $33 million. Among the investors were Future Group’s Kishore Biyani, TV Mohandas Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education, Ritesh Malik, founder of Plaksha, and Kirthiga Reddy, former Facebook India head. Entrepreneurs from startups like Zilingo, Zerodha, Razorpay, Sheroes, Snapdeal, Koo, Cars24, Bounce, Leap Finance, and Suki also invested.
Maheswari tweeted that the return of unspent capital is also being considered because it sets an example of how to execute fast, learn fast, and not commit oneself to building an undifferentiated product just because one has capital.
Invact Metaversity was tipped to become a 3D immersive virtual learning platform that allowed students to communicate with one another and their teachers via animated avatars. “I would also like to express my gratitude to my fellow founder, @tanaypratap, who has worked tirelessly alongside me. As we progressed, the differences also emerged between us on the vision (are we an education company or a metaverse company) & approach to achieving that vision,” Maheshwari said. He went on to add: “We are now standing at crossroads exploring possibilities such as (a) cutting the burn rate and pivoting to another idea, (b) letting one of the founders take full charge, or (c) returning the unspent capital to investors.” The venture recently raised money from 70 corporate leaders and startup founders at a valuation of $33 million. Among the investors were Future Group’s Kishore Biyani, TV Mohandas Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education, Ritesh Malik, founder of Plaksha, and Kirthiga Reddy, former Facebook India head. Entrepreneurs from startups like Zilingo, Zerodha, Razorpay, Sheroes, Snapdeal, Koo, Cars24, Bounce, Leap Finance, and Suki also invested.
Maheswari tweeted that the return of unspent capital is also being considered because it sets an example of how to execute fast, learn fast, and not commit oneself to building an undifferentiated product just because one has capital.
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