Dr Alex Young: founder and CEO of Virti

In this instalment of Business Leader Insight, we spoke to Dr
Alex Young, the CEO and founder of Virti: a Bristol-based tech
firm using XR and AI to set a new gold standard for immersive
learning.


A trauma and orthopaedic surgeon by training, Alex built and sold
his first company whilst still at medical school. He’s won
multiple awards with Virti including the VR Healthcare Award at
The VR Awards and ‘Best Startup’ at the Mayor of London’s Medtech
Business Awards. Virti is also part of the NHS’ prestigious
Innovation Accelerator Programme.


Virti‘s mission is to improve human performance by making
experiential training affordable and accessible to everyone on
the planet. To do this Virti uses virtual and augmented reality
coupled with AI to transport employees into difficult to access
environments and safely assesses them under pressure to improve
their performance.


Virti operates in healthcare where the system is used for health
professional training as well as patient education and Virti also
provides soft-skills training to corporates including
leaderships, anti-bullying and harassment training and training
on infrequent but hazardous events.

Here's what we discussed during the interview:
Dr Alex Young background (1:02)
Having sold a company as a medical student and scaled a company
in your spare time while working for the NHS, where would you say
your work ethic comes from? (4:50)
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected Virti and how have you
reacted to it? (6:45)
What role does technology have in the future of the healthcare
sector? (10:54)
The company operates in both the UK and US, what would you say
are the differences between the two countries when it comes to
entrepreneurship and innovation? (14:21)
Funding seems to be funnelled into apps and social media
platforms, rather than a broad array of businesses. Is that what
you are seeing and is that a negative in some ways? (19:04)
Looking at the future, how can virtual reality and augmented
reality play a bigger role for companies? (21:41)
Where are you based and how many employees do you have at Virti?
(24:24)


Questions from the public
Based on your experience, what advice would you have
for leaders considering looking for funding for the first time?
(25:03)
Do you think there's space for more collaboration in the tech
sector? (27:33)
What advice would you give to other business leaders who haven’t
adopted emerging technologies into their business and way of
working yet? (28:55)
What has been the most difficult challenge in your career and how
have you overcome it? (30:52)
What is the best advice you've ever received? (32:22)

The Go:Tech Awards celebrate businesses and entrepreneurs leading
the way in technology and innovation across the UK. To bring you
this event, we’ve collaborated with some of the country’s leading
university technology departments, business incubators, and
independent tech associations.


Enter the 2020 Go:Tech Awards now.


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