Meet the Founder who partnered with Qualcomm to compete with Apple & Meta on Hardware

The world of extended reality (XR) is evolving slower than AI or Crypto, yet still major tech giants like Meta and Apple are pouring billions into the field. Amongst this landscape of industry titans, a startup like Immersed is defying the odds with it's product, Visor — strapped, agile, and fiercely determined to prove out their vision.

Renji, the founder of Immersed (Visor), recently shared his journey, filled with pivotal fundraising moments, unexpected wins, and the hard-earned lessons of a startup operating in the shadows of behemoths. His candid insights paint a raw picture of what it takes to build a hardware company in the hyper-competitive world of Spatial Computing.

p.s. If you're about to launch your fundraise -> can apply to join my new fundraise accelerator by clicking 'Join Group' and answering 3 questions about your startup

Raising Capital the Unconventional Way

While many startups rely on traditional venture capital (VC) rounds, Renji has taken a different approach, leveraging crowdfunding to finance much of Immersed's growth. In a striking example, he emailed 50 accredited WeFunder investors on a Friday afternoon. By Monday, Immersed had secured $1.5 million in interest.

Despite the quick commitments, Renji acknowledges that managing relationships and partnerships remains a challenge. While he prefers a CTO role over CEO responsibilities, navigating the business side of fundraising is an unavoidable reality.

Competing with Giants Like Meta and Apple

Meta has spent over $40 billion developing its XR products. In contrast, Renji and his team are trying to build a next-generation headset with just $20 million and a significantly smaller team. So how do you take on trillion-dollar companies?

“The less we engage with the traditional VR community, the less negative feedback we get,” Renji explains, reflecting on the harsh skepticism from early VR adopters. Instead, Immersed has found success by focusing on the broader tech community and enterprise customers who are new to XR.

His tech partnerships have also been crucial. Collaborating with Qualcomm and Pegatron has provided access to world-class expertise, but it also means adhering to corporate timelines and processes that can slow startup agility. Balancing transparency with users while maintaining positive relations with industry partners is a high-stakes game.

Overcoming Public Scrutiny and Pressures

One of the toughest moments came during a live keynote event, streamed to over a million YouTube subscribers. Minutes before going on stage, Renji’s headset refused to boot up. The demo failed publicly, leading to intense criticism, especially from the VR community.

Despite the setbacks, Qualcomm’s leadership reassured him: “Don’t worry about the press. Let’s get this product to market.” This moment reaffirmed the importance of focusing on execution rather than public perception.

Renji also highlights the reality of running a high-profile startup—constant negative press and, eventually, lawsuits. “If Visor becomes successful, don’t be surprised if Meta or Apple sues us for something,” he notes, reflecting on advice from industry veterans like Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia.

Lessons for Seed Founders and Startups

1. Irrational Self-Belief Is Essential – Every successful founder faces moments of extreme doubt. “Just one foot in front of the other,” Renji says. The ability to push forward despite setbacks is crucial.
2. Listen with Focus – Effective communication isn’t just about responding but deeply processing what’s being said. “Crank up your focus and comprehension,” he advises.
3. Distribution and Market Fit Matter More Than Competition – Investors often ask, What if Meta copies you? Renji’s response: “Meta’s ad budget becomes my ad budget.” If a startup builds a better product, users will gravitate toward it.
4. Fundraising Is About Momentum, Not Just Capital – Whether through VCs or crowdfunding, creating FOMO (fear of missing out) drives investment. When Immersed raised $8 million through WeFunder, even skeptical VCs quietly invested small checks without notifying him.
5. Don’t Wait for Perfect Conditions to Raise Money – Many founders hesitate to fundraise, waiting for their product to be perfect. Renji encourages launching and iterating in public, as access to capital often comes when you already have users.

p.s. If you're about to launch your fundraise -> can apply to join my new fundraise accelerator by clicking 'Join Group' and answering 3 questions about your startup

My Personal Reflection on the Convo:

I've honestly had the best time working with founders over the last year. I've watched founders go from being product-minded, to commercially minded. A top honor in my book. I've met founders who have raised $10M's and sold for $100M's. I've seen founders even go the opposite way where they have so much momentum but can't stay focused enough on the goal to maintain it - then flounder.

The good, or the ''bad,'' I've enjoyed every interaction. I put bad in ''airquotes'' because I don't believe anything in Entrepreneurship is bad. It just is a moment to rally back stronger than before, implementing those lessons learned.

On X/Twitter, I'd see all sorts of news about Renji, the founder of Immersed. He had notably raised enormous amounts of capital from equity-crowdfunding. With a vision set on becoming the next Apple. A fully integrated hardware/software company, with a technical, intelligent founder, with a commercial focus. That's how I saw it at least.

So I had to meet him to get a feel for the nature and culture of the company - it was nothing less than extraordinary in my book. Not only did I leave feeling Renji is a genuine, focused, and ruthless CEO (compliment), he also left me insanely inspired.

When the chips were down, when he had no cash left in the bank years ago, his team stayed on board the company working for him. He relucantly had to let them go because of financial reasons, but they wouldn't leave because of inspiration reasons. To me, that summed up how I felt. Can he really displace Apple? Can he give major global hardware conglomerates a run for their money? Hm, maybe! But one thing that is quite obvious -- Renji is going to give it one hell of a try, and do his absolute best. What more can you ask for from the AR/VR industry?

Our industry of XR is full of negativity - and who's to blame them?

When Trump signed the Crypto/AI mandate, I couldn't help but notice there was one of the big 3 frontier technologies not being talked about, nor even mentioned. And that's AR/VR.

What happened to the Metaverse, Zuck?

What happened to the Metaverse, Crypto?

Autonomous AI Agent built on Crypto rails using the Virutals protocol, says, "they're more interested in me now," in an evil AI voice.

All that's to say, there's a lot going on. And almost none of it involves AR/VR, so when you see a founder like Renji who breaks through the noise, maintains a big vision, and can produce a hardware product more sleek than Apples Vision Pro - it might be worth giving him some credit and learning from him.

I don't usually release interviews publicly, as they're reserved for members.

But I'm feeling great today so I hope you get a chance to listen and enjoy the interview I did with him.

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If you want to see how Renji is integrating AI into his product, this video blew my mind :)

Renji Bijoy @RenjiBijoy Meet Curator: Your AI computer-using Agent. Not here to replace you, but to make *you* unstoppable. Doesn’t go off to work on its own. It makes *you* work faster. 2:0 PM • Jan 28, 2025 36 Retweets 159 Likes Read 19 replies

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If you don't want to take Renji's word for it, check out this Youtube Review of Visor:

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I host a private conversation with founders like Renji EVERY SINGLE WEDNESDAY :)

If you want to come to those, I invite you to become a member and RSVP for Weds convo.

Below is the countdown until the next private event we're doing!

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~Don Stein

p.s. If you're about to launch your fundraise -> can apply to join my new fundraise accelerator by clicking 'Join Group' and answering 3 questions about your startup

Www.LinkedIn.com/in/donstein

p.s. Hi from my remote work spot in Florida :) ☀️