People Will Not Be Able To Live Without Augmented Reality, Says Triple-E Founder

How would you describe Triple-E in a few words?

Triple-E is a new way for interacting with your current reality and bringing imagination to life.

What inspired you to create the AR platform? How did it all start?

It all started about one year ago when I was working in the field of VR / AR together with my mentor, Mohammad Mahdi Kermani. We suddenly got this idea to bring a new way of interaction to the current reality using AR. We give regular people a tool with which they can create fantastic virtual objects while using their current reality. The whole concept is based on more connection with the current environment.

Augmented Reality has been a hot topic in recent years, with its peak still coming. Where do you think this trend will lead us?

In fact, I think what we see now is just the beginning, especially with the development of wearable devices. People will not be able to live without Augmented Reality, it’s going to be as necessary as breathing I believe.

Bootstrapped or financed: What fuels your startup now and what will in the future?

We were working on our concept and the idea for about a year before we got the first investment by Dutch accelerator Crosspring. Our HQ is now in Yerevan and we’re being hosted by ISTC accelerator. As we’re now working on testing our platform and planning the release soon, we hope more investments will follow.

The competition in the AR sector appears to be fierce. What makes Triple-E stand out of the crowd? What is the key differentiator?

When we’re looking at this sector we’re faced with big competitors like Google, Microsoft, HP, Qualcomm, and many others.

Triple-E is the first social platform based on AR. We’re providing a complex solution that fits all stakeholders. We’ll be able to replace the vast amount of AR apps that are ready in place for specific use cases such as marketing, entertainment, education, art, and architecture. Our ultimate goal, however, is to be the software platform for all future hardware devices provided by large companies.

What’s the most considerable pivoting maneuver that the team has undertaken throughout the journey so far?

In the past six months we’ve participated in one startup competition after the other, some here in Armenia, some in other European countries. We had to work a lot to get into all of them, but I’ve got a great team behind Triple-E and not only did we managed to compete in all of them, we also won three.

Are you using Triple-E internally? How does that affect the viewpoints in the development team?

Absolutely, yes! Our AR platform provides a new, easy way to represent a product or an idea and by using the platform internally, we are able to notice features that we have add or others we have to alter so we can create a better experience for the user.

What is the biggest challenge that the company has faced?

This is hard to answer since we’ve overcome quite a few challenges so far. We changed the way we represented the platform, mastered some technical challenges, and also changed the initial plan about a dozen times, all while maintaining the core concept. I think these were our biggest ones, but in case new ones evolve, we’re ready to tackle them!

What is the most memorable moment throughout the history of Triple-E?

The first pitch of the idea at ISTC that I had to do in order to get us into the acceleration program. But there are more moments I’ll always remember like winning the IBM Global Entrepreneur Prize or getting out first investment by Crosspring.

If there is one thing you could wish for in improving the European startup ecosystem – what would it be?

I think the ecosystem is working pretty well, however, I do think that more events of international relevance need to be organized. Such events would encourage more startups and founders, with the potential to chance the world, come out and present themselves – I think it’s important not to overlook smaller countries simply because they’re not “on the radar”.

What’s one piece of advice you can give to fellow founders for their startup?

Gather a good and motivated team that will stand behind you and your idea in any situation that you are going to face, be it good or bad. The team is one of the most important factors along with not giving up. I know it’s a rather cliché thing to say as so many people tell you this – but in fact it’s quite easy to lose motivation at some point which is why this credo should be with you all along the way.

 

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