Through the development of virtual reality sports engagement technology, it enables tennis players and coaches to train together in real-time from anywhere in the world. Players are granted access to never-before seen analytics such as accuracy heat-maps and precise racket contact points.
Ultimately though, his goal is to allow as many people as possible to participate in sports. Collin tells us more.
“At Ellyra we are using VR to provide people with a way of getting involved in sports regardless of income, disability, or access to sports facilities.
“We want everyone to participate in sports as not only does it promote a healthy and active lifestyle, but it also give people a community to belong to. Essentially, we provide users with a fully functioning tennis club in their living room.”
Collin has always been entrepreneurial. Back in high school, he founded a company with a friend where they imported LED Christmas lights from China and sold them online.
“This was back when Amazon only sold books” says Collin.
“We ran the company for two years and by the end of those two years, we had repeat customers in all 50 US states and all of southern Canada.”
After leaving high school, Collin played tennis professionally for six years on the Futures Circuit based in various locations in North America and Europe.
He then took the decision to return to studying and having decided to come to Edinburgh, the natural choice for him was the undergraduate degree in Business with Enterprise and Innovation.
It’s clear that his time at the Business School directly influenced his new venture.
“Many of my classes were entrepreneurial, giving me an insight into how to run a start-up. They taught me everything from R&D to fundraising and everything in between, and I found talking to the professors always very inspiring.
“Having founded a company in high school, I was eager to recreate the feeling I had back then of leaving an impression on the world, no matter how small.”
Collin wrote his undergraduate dissertation on skills acquisition in VR with a focus on tennis which proved that VR technology can successfully improve skills in a variety of fields.
“My dissertation advisor was Professor Neil Pollock was tremendously helpful, not only with the dissertation, but also with advice on running a technology company.”
Collin also benefited from support from elsewhere in the University including Edinburgh Innovations.
“Their Startup gave me the confidence to pursue my vision as it gave me external validation that I was developing something meaningful.”
My advice to current students would be to pursue your vision and get involved in the entrepreneurial community. You don't have to wait until you graduate to begin, in fact many of the lecturers have great connections and can really boost your business or know someone who can.
Collin launched his company in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. So how has this impacted him over the past year?
“The pandemic has certainly brought extra challenges. We did alpha testing in late Spring and although we had a great take up in terms of the number of people involved, we did struggle to ship the headsets back and forth in a reasonable amount of time.
“That said, the demand for remote technology has of course never been greater and we’ve effectively been able to develop a tennis club in people’s living rooms.
“We’re about to double from a team of three to a team of six, on completion of the current funding round.
“Our long-term goal is to be synonymous with sports and to be the go-to place for people wanting to get involved in sports.
“Our next step is to branch into golf and then other sports. So if someone is interested in picking up golf, instead of buying £1,200 worth of clubs, they can try the sport, take lessons, and play with friends using our technology for a fraction of the cost.”
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If you have founded a business recently, why not consider sharing your experience with Business School students. Get in touch with the Alumni Team on alumni@business-school.ed.ac.uk to offer your support.
Photography by Callum / Maverick Photo Agency