TORONTO — Toronto-based virtual reality company Dark Slope announced today its new leadership team to support the organization’s pivot toward immersive learning.
The company also confirmed the closing of a bridge funding round with multiple investors, including existing Dark Slope investor Radical Ventures. This newly secured investment brings Dark Slope’s total seed funding to $2.75 million, according to the news release.
The new leadership team includes Dark Slope’s co-founder Raja Khanna (above) stepping into the role of CEO to drive its entry into the immersive learning space. Khanna was most recently the CEO of television and digital at global content and media company Blue Ant Media. Prior to that, Khanna was co-founder of technology company QuickPlay Media, which was acquired by AT&T in 2016.
“With Dark Slope we founded a company designed to be at the forefront of the spatial computing revolution. People learn best by doing, and our immersive learning technology and content enables ‘learning by doing’ for workforces at scale. Immersive learning will revolutionize how we train for high-risk jobs in the healthcare and safety fields, and how we most effectively arm our workforces with critical skills best learned through practice,” said Khanna, in the news release.
Kavi Maharajh joins Dark Slope as chief product officer responsible for the building of Involve XR, the company’s immersive learning platform. Maharajh brings a wealth of experience having previously been a founding member of QuickPlay Media, former vice-president at AT&T and former senior vice-president at Full Screen Media.
Dark Slope executive Eyal Kleiner will step into the role of senior vice-president of strategy and business development.
Dark Slope’s virtual production and gaming division will continue to operate under the Dark Slope Studios banner, with Dan Fill assuming the role of president. CJ Hervey takes on the new role of chief content officer, working across Dark Slope and Dark Slope Studios, bringing his expertise to Involve XR’s training modules. Ben Unsworth continues as the company’s chief technology officer.
In addition, Wayne Purboo has been appointed to the Dark Slope board of directors. Purboo has a proven track record of scaling Canadian companies internationally. Most notably, Purboo spearheaded the sale of QuickPlay Media to AT&T. Following the acquisition, Purboo assumed the role of senior vice-president of product at AT&T. He is currently senior vice-president of strategy at San Francisco-based software company New Relic.
