Virtual Reality Medical Center

What Virtual Reality Medical Center does

Virtual Reality Medical Center (VRMC) is a private clinical provider specializing in Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) for the treatment of phobias, generalized anxiety, PTSD, and acute and chronic pain. Founded in 1996 following its first VR clinical study and incorporated in 2001, the company operates as a California medical corporation headquartered on the Scripps Memorial Hospital campus in La Jolla, with additional service capability in Virginia and Belgium, including a dedicated PTSD program for military personnel at VRMC-Coronado. Its core technology stack combines customized immersive VR environments with physiological biofeedback monitoring to deliver graduated exposure-based interventions, supported by a longitudinal library of clinical protocols refined over more than two decades.

The business model is primarily fee-for-service clinical care delivered to individual patients, supplemented by telehealth delivery and research and continuing-education activities routed through its affiliated Interactive Media Institute (IMI), a 501(c)(3). VRMC generates revenue by treating patients across multiple specialty conditions and by licensing its clinical and research positioning in three jurisdictions. The clinic does not disclose enterprise contracts, institutional payers of scale, or material funding rounds, and operates with a small clinical staff in the 11-50 employee range. Strategic positioning emphasizes clinical-academic credibility, with recognitions including the 2005 Satava Award and the 2020 World Summit Award, alongside an international COVID Feel Good initiative.

Name

Virtual Reality Medical Center

Legal name

Virtual Reality Medical Center

Website

https://vrphobia.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Virtual Reality Medical Center operates a specialty clinic delivering VR Exposure Therapy for phobias, anxiety, PTSD, and pain management, serving individual patients from its La Jolla base with telehealth and licensed operations in California, Virginia, and Belgium.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Clinical Therapy Services: Direct patient therapy sessions using VR exposure therapy combined with cognitive behavioral therapy and biofeedback. Sessions provided both in-person and via telehealth.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Virtual Reality Medical Center delivers Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET), combining immersive head-mounted display environments with cognitive behavioral therapy and real-time biofeedback monitoring. Licensed clinical psychologists treat specific phobias, anxiety disorders, PTSD, and pain conditions through graduated, therapist-controlled virtual exposure, delivered both in-person at the La Jolla clinic and via telehealth.

Product overview

Virtual Reality Medical Center operates as a clinical healthcare practice offering Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) as its core service, combining immersive VR technology with cognitive behavioral therapy and biofeedback monitoring. The company has pioneered VR therapy since 1996 and now provides treatment for various mental health conditions including phobias, anxiety disorders, PTSD, and stress-related disorders. Services are delivered both in-person at their La Jolla, California facility and via telehealth, with specialized VR environments tailored to specific phobias and conditions. The company also offers continuing education courses for therapists through its nonprofit affiliate, the Interactive Media Institute.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• COVID Feel Good: A weekly social self-help protocol based on a virtual reality experience, requiring twenty minutes daily, helping users relieve anxiety and stress and improve well-being and social connectedness during the coronavirus pandemic. Selected as best national digital solution for Italy for the WSA Award in 2020.

Products and services

• Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET) Immersive VR-based exposure therapy using head-mounted displays with visual and auditory cues, combined with cognitive behavioral therapy and biofeedback, to treat phobias, anxiety, stress, and pain disorders in individual patients.
• PTSD Treatment Program Specialized VR therapy program for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, including PTSD from military deployment and PTSD due to motor vehicle accidents, combining VR exposure, biofeedback, and individual psychotherapy.
• Telehealth VR Therapy Remote VR therapy sessions delivered via telehealth video platform, with recommendations for patients to purchase physiological monitoring devices for home use during sessions.
• Continuing Education Courses APA-approved continuing education courses for mental health professionals, covering VR applications in Anxiety Disorders, PTSD, and Pain Management, delivered through the nonprofit Interactive Media Institute affiliate.
• COVID Feel Good A weekly social self-help protocol based on a virtual reality experience requiring twenty minutes daily, designed for relieving anxiety and stress and improving well-being and social connectedness during the coronavirus pandemic.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3-year follow-up study showed patients retained progress with no relapse for fear of flying treatment
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Catholic University of Sacred Heart (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 November 2020Collaborated on COVID Feel Good project - a weekly social self-help protocol based on virtual reality experience for relieving anxiety and stress during the coronavirus pandemic. Professor Giuseppe Riva served as Scientific Coordination. The project was available in multiple languages including English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Korean, Japanese, German, Catalan, and Turkish.
• Istituto Auxologico ItalianocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 November 2020Partner institution in the COVID Feel Good project, contributing to the international effort with over 10 countries participating. This Positive Technology initiative addressed psychological stress during the global health emergency.
• Interactive Media InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 November 2020A 501c3 non-profit affiliate organization of VRMC, dedicated to bringing together interdisciplinary researchers from around the world to create, test, and develop clinical protocols for the medical and psychological community. Approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing education courses.
• World Summit Award (WSA)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 2 November 2020Global initiative within the framework of the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). COVID Feel Good was selected as best national digital solution for Italy among over 340 international nominations.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• XRHealth: Operates a VR-based telehealth platform for mental and physical health conditions including anxiety, PTSD, and pain management. Most direct competitor to VRMC in VR-enabled behavioral health delivery via telehealth.
• BehaVR: Builds VR digital therapeutics for mental health conditions including anxiety, stress, and chronic pain. Competes directly with VRMC's VRET-plus-biofeedback positioning in behavioral health VR.
• AppliedVR: Develops FDA-authorized VR therapeutics, including for chronic pain and mental health indications. A direct clinical-VR peer competing for the same payer and provider relationships as VRMC.
• Psious (now part of Merlin): Historically one of the closest direct peers — a VR platform purpose-built for mental health professionals to deliver exposure therapy for phobias and anxiety, mirroring VRMC's clinical VRET offering.
• Oxford VR (now called XR Therapeutics): Clinically validated VR therapy for mental health conditions including anxiety disorders and psychosis. Closely comparable peer operating at the intersection of VR technology and evidence-based clinical psychology.

Emerging players

• SyncThink: Uses VR-based eye-tracking for neurological assessment, with related applications in cognitive and behavioral health. Adjacent peer leveraging VR + physiological monitoring in clinical settings, similar to VRMC's biofeedback layer.
• Big Health: Digital therapeutics for sleep and anxiety (Sleepio, Daylight) sold via payer and employer channels. Comparable in indication coverage (anxiety) but uses CBT via mobile rather than VR exposure.
• Limbic: AI-enabled behavioral health platform supporting therapy access and engagement. Adjacent peer in the digital therapeutics for mental health space targeting similar patient populations.
• Meru Health: Digital mental health program combining therapist-led care with biofeedback and digital tools for anxiety, depression, and burnout. Comparable in combining biofeedback with behavioral health delivery.

Broad incumbents

• Pear Therapeutics (legacy / Akili Interactive as successor comparator): Akili Interactive is a publicly relevant digital therapeutics company that built FDA-authorized software-based treatments for cognitive and mental health conditions. A broad incumbent in the prescription digital therapeutics category where VRMC's clinically validated content could eventually compete.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCdPZL1yK4IEAiroQszKzKaQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/vrmc
• Facebookfacebook.com/Virtual-Reality-Medical-Center-102644261165396

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Virtual Reality Medical Center