What Health Scholars does

Health Scholars, now operating as UpSkillAI (legal entity UpSkill, LLC.), is a U.S.-based provider of AI-powered Extended Reality (XR) clinical and emergency-response training headquartered in Westminster, Colorado. The company's core product combines virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality with AI-driven adaptive learning to deliver immersive training scenarios for high-stakes clinical events such as OB hemorrhage response, stroke assessment, suicide risk evaluation, malignant hyperthermia, and pediatric emergencies. Its technology stack includes real-time adaptive learning that adjusts content and feedback per learner, voice-powered hands-free interaction with accent calibration, and hand tracking for natural in-VR manipulation, all underwritten by published research in PMC and Springer claiming materially faster learning and higher retention versus traditional methods.

UpSkillAI monetizes through annual enterprise subscriptions bundled with managed services and hardware provision: the company retains ownership of VR headsets and provides remote monitoring, content pre-loading, firmware updates, and help desk support as part of the subscription. Pricing is quote-based, and the go-to-market is a consultative enterprise field-sales motion that runs from discovery and demo through hardware/IT integration, co-development of customer-specific protocols, deployment, and ongoing optimization. Target buyers are large U.S. health systems (Mayo Clinic, Mount Sinai, UAB, University of Michigan, Maimonides, NYC Health + Hospitals, Jackson Health), emergency medical services organizations, federal and defense agencies, and international humanitarian medical training programs in Ukraine and Rwanda.

The company was founded in 2017, raised $17 million in January 2020 from healthcare-focused investors including Arboretum Ventures, OSF Healthcare System, and Service Provider Capital, and is led by CEO Scott Johnson and CTO Dustin Parham. It rebranded from Health Scholars to UpSkillAI in 2025 to reflect an expanded positioning across healthcare, EMS, stroke, and defense verticals, and holds SOC 2 Type 2 certification with GDPR compliance posture to support enterprise and government procurement.

Name

Health Scholars

Legal name

UpSkill, LLC.

Website

https://upskillai.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

UpSkillAI (formerly Health Scholars) provides an AI-powered extended reality training platform for healthcare systems, EMS organizations, and government agencies, delivering adaptive, voice-controlled VR simulations for high-stakes clinical and emergency-response scenarios on a subscription-plus-managed-services basis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Immersive Healthcare Training Software

NAICS

All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Healthcare & Clinical Simulation (Surgery, Nursing, EMT, Patient Interaction) (EDAFAJAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Digital Twins & Scenario-Based Systems Training (Equipment/Process Simulators) (EDAFAJAJ), Simulation & Scenario-Based Learning Authoring (EDAFAHAD), Healthcare & Wellness Personalization (HDAAAGAI)

Keywords

• Immersive clinical training
• Extended reality training
• VR healthcare simulation
• Adaptive learning platform
• Emergency medical training

Headquarters

HQ city

Westminster

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. VR Subscription Services: Virtual reality services provided on a subscription basis under subscription agreements. Includes access to VR training content and simulation experiences.
2. Managed Services: Managed services including hardware loaning, remote monitoring, content pre-loading, updates, and help desk support provided as part of subscription packages.
3. Hardware Provision: Health Scholars-owned VR equipment (headsets, accessories) provided to customers for use with services. Hardware remains property of Health Scholars.
4. Professional Services: End-to-end solution services including discovery & planning, hardware & IT integration, deployment & onboarding, customization & co-development, reporting & optimization, and ongoing support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Health Scholars (now UpSkillAI) provides an AI-powered Extended Reality (XR) training platform that combines virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality with artificial intelligence to deliver adaptive, immersive training for healthcare, EMS, stroke assessment, and defense personnel. The platform offers specialized content modules with voice-powered, hands-free interaction, learning analytics, and customizable protocols co-developed with customers.

Product overview

Health Scholars (now UpSkillAI) offers a unified AI-powered XR training platform with specialized modules for Stroke, EMS, Healthcare, and Defense sectors. The core platform combines extended reality (VR/AR/MR) with artificial intelligence to deliver adaptive, immersive training experiences. The company also provides Managed VR Services as an add-on offering hardware management, deployment support, and ongoing maintenance. All solutions are designed to be customizable to customer-specific protocols and scalable from single deployments to enterprise-wide implementations across hospitals, emergency services, and government agencies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AI-Powered XR Training Platform Immersive extended reality (XR) training platform combining virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality with AI-powered adaptive learning. The platform responds to each learner in real-time, adapting content, pace, and feedback based on performance and decision-making patterns. Targeted at enterprise healthcare systems, hospitals, EMS organizations, and government agencies.
• Stroke Training Solutions
• EMS Training Solutions
• Healthcare Training Solutions
• Defense Training Solutions
• Managed VR Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 50% faster learning times
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• International Medical Response (IMR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to deliver Pediatric Assessment Triangle VR training for medical students in Ukraine, building on collaboration with Maimonides MDs. Enables humanitarian medical training in crisis environments and resource-constrained settings.
• UC San Diego Medical StudentscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration to develop objective-based OB Empathy Training integrated into medical education curriculum. Created virtual scoring system similar to OSCE evaluations for assessing student empathy alongside clinical skills.
• University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) & Rwanda Military HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVR simulation partnership for high-stakes pediatric triage training in low-resource settings. Following initial success, planning expanded implementation to reach more learners and integrate VR across additional curriculum areas.
• Maimonides Medical CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClinical collaboration contributing to international humanitarian training programs, including IMR Ukraine pediatric emergency training. Maimonides physicians collaborate on scenario development and clinical protocol alignment.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Osso VR: Osso VR provides VR-based surgical and procedural training for healthcare professionals and medical device companies. It is a direct peer in the XR clinical simulation category, targeting the same enterprise healthcare buyer with similar subscription-based delivery.
• FundamentalVR: FundamentalVR delivers immersive VR surgical training with haptic feedback for hospitals, medical schools, and medical device companies. It competes head-to-head with Health Scholars in AI/XR-powered clinical skills training for healthcare enterprises.
• Oxford Medical Simulation: Oxford Medical Simulation offers VR-based clinical training scenarios for nurses, doctors, and allied health professionals using interactive virtual patients. It is directly comparable in VR scenario-based healthcare learning for hospitals and universities.
• SimX: SimX provides VR medical simulation software used by hospitals, nursing schools, and EMS training programs for clinical scenario practice. It overlaps directly with Health Scholars' EMS and healthcare training modules.
• Surgical Theater: Surgical Theater provides VR visualization and training for surgical planning and patient engagement, primarily serving hospital systems and medical schools. Comparable in immersive healthcare XR targeting enterprise clinical buyers.
• STRIVR: STRIVR offers an enterprise XR training platform with a focus on immersive learning for frontline workers, originally in sports and now expanding into healthcare and other verticals. Comparable AI/XR training delivery model to enterprise customers.
• Immerse: Immerse provides a VR language and corporate training platform with a focus on enterprise workforce upskilling using immersive scenarios. Comparable in AI-enabled enterprise XR training delivered via subscription.

Broad incumbents

• CAE Healthcare: CAE Healthcare is a division of CAE Inc. providing high-fidelity patient simulation, ultrasound simulation, and learning management for medical schools and hospitals. A broad incumbent in clinical simulation that competes with Health Scholars on the simulation-training buyer, though its core is physical manikin-based.
• Laerdal Medical: Laerdal Medical is a global leader in resuscitation training, patient simulators, and healthcare education solutions serving hospitals, EMS, and military customers. Directly comparable in healthcare and EMS training, but with a broader portfolio of physical and digital solutions.

Emerging players

• Kognito: Kognito builds immersive simulations for health professional communication and behavioral health training, including suicide risk assessment — a specific use case also addressed by Health Scholars at large U.S. public hospital systems.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/healthscholars1
• Facebookfacebook.com/advancingmeded
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/healthscholars

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Health Scholars