Alexander Weber, a 2019 graduate of the Min H. Kao Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, recently won funding for his startup, D3DXR Studios, as part of the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation’s Boyd Venture Challenge.

Now in its 20th year, the competition provides seed money, mentorship, and business development expertise for projects that the group feels have the potential for growth.

For Weber, who is currently an MBA candidate in the Haslam College of Business, the support comes at a key moment in his company’s young history.

“Competing and winning in the Boyd Venture Challenge provides my company with the opportunity to scale our operations faster than we expected,” said Weber. “The funds are a blessing to an early start-up, and we are genuinely excited to move forward with the help of such an amazing organization.”

D3D specializes in extended reality consultation, including the worlds of augmented-, mixed-, and virtual-reality.

Combining his engineering skills with his ever-increasing business acumen has helped Weber in his vision for the company, something he said will further come into focus thanks to the $20,000 in funding the Boyd Challenge is providing.

“As an engineer, I have always had a passion for technology, but I became enthralled with extended reality the moment I tried on my first VR headset,” he said. “After months of research and training, meeting some amazing colleagues and pursuing my MBA, I formed D3D to bring extended reality to the workplace.”

For more on the challenge, see the announcement from the Haslam College of Business.