Empowering neurodiversity through immersion

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in wellness for kids, but not sure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Yahya Alaa Massoud, co-founder, and CTO at VRapeutic, Inc. in Ottawa, ON, Canada

Tell us all about your business...

VRapeutic’s vision is to transform the landscape of rehabilitation and therapeutic solutions for children suffering from neurodevelopmental challenges such as ADHD, Autism, and Dyslexia. We are a research-based software house specializing in building software modules in the form of both virtual and augmented reality gamified experiences that are tailored to instill essential life skills in children, including cognitive, academic, and motor skills.

Learning challenges such as ADHD, Autism, and Dyslexia impacts the lives of more than 9 million children in the US only, in a market worth billions of dollars and increasing at a fast pace, estimated to reach 115 billion dollars by 2025. VRapeutic is on a mission to realize the full potential of virtual reality in therapeutics by providing practical, customizable, and affordable therapeutic solutions.

Since June 2020, we have been backed by UNICEF Innovation Fund for our innovative solutions, specifically for employing cutting-edge technologies to build therapeutic software for children on the neurodiversity spectrum. We are a B2B-focused business with a subscription-based revenue model, aiming to provide our wide range of therapeutic solutions to therapy centers, private clinics, and inclusion schools that offer therapy plans to children within the age range of 6 to 15 years.

VRapeutic has started in Egypt and the Middle East and Africa (MENA) region while being backed by a prominent startup accelerator, Flat6Labs Cairo. Now, we are expanding to the North American market, starting with Canada, where we are working with multiple startup accelerators, including the University of Ottawa’s MakerLaunch program, Invest Ottawa, and Ontario Brain Institute ONtrepreneurs’ program. VRapeutic disrupts rehabilitation through immersion while being a market leader in Egypt, the MENA region, and Canada.

What's your background and motivation to grow as a solopreneur?

I studied Computer Engineering for my bachelor’s degree at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology in Egypt. I did my master’s degree in Computer Science at the University of Ottawa, specializing in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision. I also have a diverse background in software engineering and development.

Around the third year of my bachelor’s studies, I met my co-founder, Ahmad Al-Kabbany, and we had an aligning vision of growing the university’s AI research community. That is when he helped me launch the first Winter School course to teach undergraduate students about the booming field of artificial intelligence and deep learning.

One of the first products that VRapeutic developed was a Virtual Reality-based gamified experience designed to improve children’s motor skills in gait training. , the child would put on the VR headset and start walking on a treadmill. The positive feedback VRapeutic has received from the therapists and specialists was overwhelming; they were impressed by the child's excitement and motivation during the VR-based therapy session. That was one of the defining moments in my journey with VRapeutic. My co-founder, Ahmad Al-Kabbany, showed me the potential of replacing boring traditional intervention strategies with engaging gamified experiences. Together, we believe that immersion will be a game-changer in rehabilitation.

My ultimate motivation is seeing VRapeutic’s products impacting the lives of millions of children and their families worldwide and inspiring a social impact on a large scale. I always envision a scenario in a therapy center where a child is wearing a virtual reality headset and interacting with one of our gamified experiences as a part of their therapeutic plan. Our dashboards show that the child’s performance is excellent compared to their previous sessions, which instantly draws a smile on the faces of their mother and father. They are being reassured that their child will be able to overcome their learning challenges and will be able to lead a unique and inspiring life.

One of the most existing things about being the CTO at VRapeutic is leveraging my knowledge and skills. I experience daily to build a platform that will enable specialists and experts to witness the future of therapy and assessment for children on the neurodiversity spectrum. Also, the motivation, excitement, hard work, and belief our team members have in VRapeutic’s vision inspire me beyond measure. Our team is the critical element to our success.

One of the essential duties of VRapeutic is to raise awareness around learning challenges and neurodiversity, help many families better understand how to deal with the challenges their children face, and help pave a path for early intervention of these children. In addition, we aim to capture the attention of specialists, practitioners, and the research community, to the vast potential of the cutting-edge technological intervention strategies that we can provide.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Since I joined VRapeutic, I have been focused on empowering the members of the technical team. I am grateful to be working with them daily. The intent is to build a healthy and productive work environment that encourages creativity, constructive feedback, and continuous improvement. Getting the best out of every team member in the current remote work setting led VRapeutic to land more projects in a short period despite the pandemic.

Also, one of the most amazing things in my journey with VRapeutic is the opportunity to work closely with Ahmad Al-Kabbany, my co-founder. He is a beautiful human being and an inspiring leader.

In addition, I have represented VRapeutic at the largest student-led startup competition in the world, the Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC). We were shortlisted among 53 out of more than 400 notable startups, then became one of the competition's semi-finalists. Despite not winning, this opportunity has led us to expand our network of mentors in North America. I would not have imagined it, and it has also helped us get more exposure about our startup, the importance of our products, and highlighted our mission of a social impact on a global scale.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a solopreneur?

One of the hardest things is maintaining a focused and determined mindset regularly, and it starts with a clear vision and mission statements. As a business owner, you will be faced with various challenges in multiple aspects of your business daily, and you will always have a multitude of tasks that could or should be done. Your vision and mission statements will always help you stay focused and enable you to prioritize what you do whenever there are distractors on your way forward.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run or grow a small business today?

Constructive feedback loop. Try to surround yourself with an honest and constructive circle of advisors, mentors, and even family and friends, which will act as your feedback loop. The most important thing is to be like a sponge: take in as much feedback and information as possible, be coachable, and reflect on your decision-making process daily.
It’s you vs. you. Focus on refining and further enhancing your products and services as if you are competing with yourself. Seek feedback from your customers to improve your services accordingly, instead of distracting yourself with anything else that would lead you away from your central vision.
Work hard! Focus on improving yourself daily as a business owner and as a leader. Never stop learning.

Yes, just a couple of quick pieces of advice. Work hard. Enjoy the process. Always be proud of your achievements and successes. Always trust God's plans for you. Give honest feedback. Embrace change. Say thank you to those who've helped you throughout your journey. Give back as much as you can to your community. And always remember to stay humble and kind.

Where can people find you online?

Website: https://myvrapeutic.com/
Open-Source Initiative: https://vrapeutic.github.io/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vrapeutic/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myvrapeutic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myvrapeutic/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/myvrapeutic

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.