# SandboxVR Financial Model Location-based VR entertainment company operating "holodeck" venues where groups experience untethered, full-body, socially immersive VR. - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/sandboxvr - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/sandboxvr.xlsx - Category: Media/Gaming - Model type: Unit-economics / DTC - Funding round: Series A - Funding: $68M - Founded: 2019 - Geography: Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, San Mateo (CA), Vancouver - US expansion underway. - Customer: B2C ## About the company Sandbox VR operates physical venues for full-body, untethered multiplayer virtual reality. Motion capture turns guests into avatars inside dedicated rooms, while exclusive AAA experiences such as Deadwood Mansion, Curse of Davy Jones, and Amber Sky 2088 make the format social and immersive. Revenue is based on per-session ticket bookings at corporate stores, with rooms as the capacity driver. The deck also implies studio-partner content revenue but does not disclose session pricing, franchise fees, or licence terms. Labour, rent, capex, and content costs need separate treatment from ticket sales. Corporate-store monthly revenue rose from a test-room ramp in 2017 to $160,000 by July 2018 as venues opened. Eighteen percent of guests booked at least twice and review ratings were near five stars. The model should forecast locations, rooms, utilisation, sessions, price, repeat visits, cash burn, and expansion capex. ## What's included - 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions - Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule - Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking - Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check - Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR - Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention ## Product & value proposition - Full-body, untethered, multi-player VR in a dedicated physical "Sandbox" space. - Motion capture technology renders players as avatars in real time - social, group-play by design. - Proprietary exclusive AAA experiences (Deadwood Mansion, Curse of Davy Jones, Amber Sky 2088). - Designed to be watched as well as played - social video content generated automatically. - Positioned as the only offering that is simultaneously highly immersive AND highly scalable vs. competitors (bubble chart, Immersiveness × Scalability axes). ## Market - No explicit TAM/SAM/SOM dollar figures given. - Context: Console installed base = 120M units vs. VR headsets (console + PC) = 5M units - framing the gap between gaming demand and in-home VR adoption. - 73% churn rate for monthly active VR users on Steam VR (Dec 2017) - used to justify out-of-home solution. - Macro tailwind: live-event admissions as % of total US consumer spend rising from ~2% (1970s trough) to ~5% by 2010; annotated with "Millennials command over $1 trillion in spend". - Retailer need for "new, upscale, social experiences" cited as structural demand driver. ## Revenue model - Per-session ticket sales at corporate-owned and operated stores (referred to as "corporate stores"). - Revenue unit = booking/session per room; rooms are the core capacity metric. - Content licensing / studio partner revenue stream implied: deck cites "~$XXXM Revenue for Studio Partners" at 100 rooms (2019) and "~$XXXXM Revenue for Studio Partners" at 1,200 rooms (2022) - actual dollar figures redacted. - No franchise or licensing fee model mentioned explicitly; business appears corporate-store-led at this stage. - Pricing per session not disclosed in deck. ## Traction & metrics - Monthly Revenue (USD, All Corporate Stores) - line chart Jun 2017–Jul 2018: - Jun 2017 (First Test Room launch): ~$0 ramping to ~$30K by Jul 2017 - Aug–Jan 2018: ~$20K–$30K/month (single test room, minimal foot traffic first 8 months) - Feb 2018 (HK Flagship opens): step-up to ~$65K - Mar–Apr 2018: ~$100–$110K - May 2018: dip to ~$90K - Jun 2018 (San Mateo opens): ~$130K; Jul 2018: ~$160K - Repeat bookings: 18% of guests have booked 2+ sessions. - Guest ratings: 5.0/5.0 (1,000+ Facebook reviews), 4.9/5.0 (1,000+ Google reviews), 5/5 (1,000+ TripAdvisor reviews). - Ranked #1 Activity in Hong Kong and #1 Activity in Singapore. - Room count trajectory (actual + projected): - Q2 2017: 1 test room - Q4 2017: LA + NYC added (~10 rooms) - Q1 2018: HK, Bangkok, Singapore (~24 rooms at peak label) - Q2–Q3 2018: SF, Vancouver (~10–15 rooms) - Q1 2019: ~25 rooms - Q2 2019 Phase 1: ~30 rooms - Q3 2019 Phase 2: ~55 rooms (redacted label "XX Phase 2") - Long-range room target: ~100 rooms by 2019, ~1,200 rooms by 2022, approaching ~2,000 rooms by 2023. ## Unit economics - Unit economics slide exists but all figures are redacted as "XX%" and "$XXX": - EBITDA Margins: "XX+%" (modeled for standard US corporate store at conservative occupancy) - Sales per Square Foot: "$XXX+ USD" - Occupancy Rate: "XX%" model case; actual blended occupancy described as "much higher" than model case - Store-level EBITDA model is clearly built internally (referenced in text on sl.13) but numbers are withheld from this version of the deck. ## Competition / moat - Competitive landscape: Arenas, Arcades, Attractions, Holodecks - bubble chart shows Sandbox VR as top-right (highest immersiveness + highest scalability) vs. 5 unnamed competitors. - Moat articulated as a self-reinforcing flywheel: 1. Strong Demand → 2. Strong Economics → 3. Aggressive Growth → 4. Exclusive Content → feeds back to Strong Demand. - Exclusive AAA content (Ubisoft-pedigree designer; Sony VR franchise lead) is a key barrier. - Technology stack (wireless VR, real-time sparse-sensor mocap, haptic vests) described as "all just barely possible, and rapidly improving" - first-mover advantage in a nascent tech window. - Content scale creates bargaining power with studio partners as room count grows. ## Team & funding ask / use of funds - Steve Zhao - CEO; founder of Blue Tea Games (casual games); ~2 decades entertainment experience. - Siqi Chen - Chief Product Officer; ex-Head of Product Zynga, ex-VP Growth Postmates; serial founder backed by Google/Spark/Lightspeed. - Michael Hampden - Head of Studios; Lead Designer Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft); Lead Designer London Heist + Blood & Truth (Sony VR). --- ## Recommended financial model - **Archetype + why:** Location-based entertainment (LBE) venue roll-out P&L - unit economics model (store-level contribution) combined with a corporate roll-up. This is a physical retail expansion business: revenue is driven by room count × sessions per room × ticket price × occupancy, not ARR or GMV. The deck's own flywheel logic (demand → economics → growth → content) maps to a store-level EBITDA build rolled up to a consolidated P&L. - **Forecast horizon & granularity:** Monthly for Years 1–2 (operational ramp detail); quarterly for Years 3–5. Horizon: 2018–2023 to match deck's own room projection to ~2,000 rooms. - **Key drivers & assumptions:** | Driver | Value | | -- | -- | | Rooms open - 2019 | ~100 | | Rooms open - 2022 | ~1,200 | | Rooms open - 2023 | ~2,000 | | Monthly revenue per store (2 rooms, San Mateo ramp Jul 2018) | ~$80K/month at ramp | | Repeat booking rate | 18% of guests | | Store-level EBITDA margin | Redacted (XX+%) | | Occupancy rate - model case | Redacted (XX%) | | Occupancy rate - actual blended | Higher than model case | | Sales per sq ft | Redacted ($XXX+ USD) | | Avg rooms per store | 6–8 | | Session duration | ~30–45 min | | Ticket price per person | $38–$48 USD | | Group size per session | 4–6 players | | Store capex per room | $150K–$250K | | Lease cost per store | $15K–$30K/month | | Labour per store | $20K–$35K/month | | Content licensing cost to studio partners | $XXM at 100 rooms, $XXXM at 1,200 rooms | | New store opening cadence (2019–2023) | ~20–25 stores/quarter at peak | | Payback period per store | 18–30 months | - **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):** - **Base:** Room ramp per deck trajectory (100 by 2019, 1,200 by 2022). Occupancy at model case XX%. Ticket price stable. - **Bull:** Faster ramp (franchising added; mall partnerships accelerate); occupancy at actual blended rate (higher than model); ticket price premium as content improves. - **Bear:** Ramp slows 30–40% vs. plan (operational complexity); occupancy reverts toward 50%; technology cost reductions lag; content exclusivity challenged by competitors. - Flex variables: room count, occupancy rate, ticket price, capex/room (tech cost trajectory), content cost % of revenue. - **Required sheets / outputs:** 1. **Assumptions** - all drivers in one place with scenario toggle (Base/Bull/Bear). 2. **Store Unit Economics** - single-store P&L: revenue (sessions × players × price), gross profit, store EBITDA. Parameterised by occupancy, ticket price, rooms per store. 3. **Portfolio Roll-Up** - room/store count by quarter (actual + projected), cohorted by opening quarter, aggregate revenue + EBITDA. 4. **Capex & Funding Schedule** - capex per new room × room additions per period; cumulative cash consumed; tie to funding tranches. 5. **Consolidated P&L** - revenue, COGS, store EBITDA, corporate overhead (G&A, R&D/studio, sales), EBITDA, D&A, EBIT. 6. **Cash Flow & Runway** - operating cash flow, capex, free cash flow, cash balance vs. raise timing. 7. **KPI Dashboard** - rooms open, avg occupancy %, monthly revenue/room, system-wide monthly revenue, repeat rate. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the SandboxVR financial model free? Yes. The SandboxVR model is a free Excel download with live formulas. ### Can I change the assumptions? Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.