Victoria’s LlamaZOO took home the Top Regional Startup prize in 2016. Since then, their interactive 3D veterinary anatomy software, EasyAnatomy, is being used by students and educators in over 25 countries, worldwide. Interview with Charles Lavigne, Co-Founder and Chief Llama at LlamaZOO.
To start, give a brief description of your startup and what you offer as a product/service. How were you inspired to come up with the concept?
LlamaZOO is an edtech startup, and developers of the world-leading 3D veterinary anatomy software EasyAnatomy. Our proprietary platform provides a means of interacting with and viewing complex data and structures as 3D models, on everything from tablets to virtual & augmented reality headsets.
Our beachhead market opportunity is in veterinary education; seeking to change the way veterinary anatomy is learned and taught. The longer term vision is to become the Netflix of interactive 3D educational/training content.
Kevin and I co-founded LlamaZOO in late 2014. We both began our careers in the video gaming industry – working for companies such as Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and Sony. When our friend, a veterinarian, told us about how challenging it was to learn anatomy with 2D textbooks and limited dissection lab time, we immediately saw the opportunity to take the highly interactive and engaging elements of video games, and bring them to education.
Describe what stage your startup was at when you entered the BCIC-New Ventures Competition. Did you expect at the time of registration to compete for the top prizes?
When we first entered the BCIC-New Ventures competition last spring, the company was in the final stages of preparing for EasyAnatomy’s initial launch. We were partnered with leading veterinary schools such as the University of Michigan, the University of Saskatchewan, and the University-College of Dublin in EasyAnatomy’s development, but LlamaZOO was still pre-revenue.
Despite our early stage, our university partnerships had already validated the need for EasyAnatomy, and the software’s ability to address that need. So we anticipated healthy early revenue over the summer, and were indeed expecting to compete for the top prizes in BCIC-New Ventures.
How have you used your prize money and services?
We used the prize money to support EasyAnatomy’s sales and marketing efforts, and to leverage EasyAnatomy’s 3D canine anatomical models into the development of the world’s first virtual reality (and augmented reality) canine dissection experience – which we just had the opportunity to unveil at the Western Veterinary Conference in Vegas, and the #BCTech Summit.
Any updates or successes you can share since completing the Competition?
EasyAnatomy is now being used by veterinary students and educators from over 70 schools, on every continent but Antarctica.
LlamaZOO reached the final 10 in the 2017 SXSWedu Launch Competition, in which we were the top placing Canadian company.
We brought veterinary anatomy education to virtual reality and augmented reality for the first time ever.
We also raised a second round of Angel investment based on our early traction and growth.
Best feedback from a mentor, juror or fellow competitor that you received?
Identify the most pressing market pains by having real conversations (and lots of them). Then develop your solution for the pain(s) with constant feedback from your customers.
What tips do you have for this year’s BCIC-New Ventures competitors?
Be very clear, concise, and focused with your submissions. A solid understanding of your customers, market segment, and competition far-outweighs your ability to piece together beautiful sentences or visually striking slides. Stay focused on what drives your business forward, because that’s the ultimate value of the competition anyway!
Any other comments you’d like to share?
EasyAnatomy is free to download and start exploring – so if you have any interest in anatomy, dogs, or cool software, please feel welcome to try it out! (Just visit www.easy-anatomy.com, or search for EasyAnatomy on the Apple & Windows app stores.)
LlamaZoo won the BC Top Regional Startup Prize in 2016. This prize awards $10,000 cash to the top placing venture located outside of Metro Vancouver.
