Episode
From $500K to $1.5M ARR: Bootstrapping VR SaaS for Trade Skills
- Published
- Dec 31, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 1214
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Summary
Sabari Nair, co-founder and CEO of Skillveri, joins Nathan to break down how he's scaling a VR-powered vocational training platform to $1.5M ARR today , serving 100+ schools in the U.S. , with $350K enterprise contracts — and why he believes immersive training plus SaaS pricing is the future of skilled labor education. In this episode, Sabari explains how Skillveri combines VR software subscriptions , hardware add-ons , and a reseller-led GTM motion to win in a category traditionally dominated by $30K+ one-time simulation vendors. You'll learn: — How Skillveri sells VR training software starting at $4K/year per school — Why their largest customer pays $350K annually (and how they plan to reach $1M contracts) — The SaaS + hardware hybrid model driving 60% recurring revenue — Why schools (not industry) are the wedge into a massive skills market — How reseller partnerships replaced direct sales across the U.S. — The commission structure that motivates resellers without killing margins — Why in-person demos beat cold pitches for immersive tech — How VR + mixed reality creates objective skill grading (welding, painting, more) — The COVID pivot that forced a full reset — and buying out investors at a discount — Why Sabari turned down a $4M all-cash acquisition offer — The roadmap to $10M ARR by expanding to 2,000+ schools Sabari started the company in 2012 building hardware, pivoted hard into software during the pandemic, bought out early investors in 2021, and rebuilt the business into a capital-efficient SaaS with hardware upsells. Today, Skillveri runs on a lean team, supports Meta Quest and Pico headsets, and is redefining how skilled trades are taught globally. Whether you're a B2B SaaS founder , hardware-plus-software operator , investor exploring edtech , or operator…