Odyssey3D is a start-up that makes the physical world digitally accessible by creating immersive virtual tours for any location. This allows anyone from anywhere to virtually walk through any physical place and truly immerse themselves in it via our VR capabilities.
We work with both commercial and residential properties. We are currently on a mission to help Toronto’s education, art, and culture spaces to be accessible to any Canadian despite the distance or financial means or movement limitations.
Tell us about yourself?
I came to Canada in 2010, young, full of hope and indecision about what to do with my future. I completed a bachelor of commerce while always being involved in entrepreneurship. I travelled through over 20 countries and worked a bunch of part-time jobs until life led me to co-found Odyssey3D, which aligned with my true passion for photography and videography.
Although my education has prepared me for the world of business, I would consider myself a creative first. This is why, as CEO, you will still find me on-site, doing actual photography, videography, or completing the 3D Virtual tours. I love to be a part of the process.
I knew that whatever I found myself doing in my career, I would create work that added value to society.
Since I started on my entrepreneurial journey, all I wanted was to create the best possible company to work for and with while also inspiring the employees to be the best versions of themselves. It’s important for me to make a difference, and I believe that Odyssey3D is on the right track to doing that. Odyssey3D allows me to help other small businesses get noticed and to provide accessible solutions to consumers everywhere.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
“It’s about the journey and not the destination.” When you’re a young adult, it’s hard not to get caught up in the destination. There is so much life to be lived in the journey itself!
What problem does your business solve?
We are currently on a mission to help Toronto’s education, art, and culture spaces to be accessible to any Canadian despite the distance or financial means or movement limitations.
Our specific focus with educational spaces is to bring every University or College campus into the virtual world so that potential students that can not be there in person for the open house date can still make the right decision for themselves by being able to view the campus virtually.
With art, culture, and heritage spaces, we recognize that, unfortunately, not everyone has the opportunity to visit them, whether it’s due to financial circumstances, distance, or certain disabilities. With our solution, we can make it accessible to everyone and, most importantly, save the legacy of any space forever in the virtual reality, which is especially important for temporary exhibitions.
With residential real estate, we provide a full range of services to help realtors and sellers portray their homes in the most creative and innovative way possible so they can sell them quicker and for the highest price.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
Our founder Jimmy Chan inspired the business.
Jimmy’s vision for Odyssey3D began with a trip to Israel to study technology entrepreneurship. Since graduating from the Schulich School of Business, he has been the winner of Schulich’s 2016 Start-Up Day and has since brought his project to the market to launch the award-winning real estate startup Odyssey3D.
Initially, he saw a need in the real estate market when it came to house hunting. Home buyers were forced to spend countless hours driving around to view a handful of properties. Home sellers had to find time to leave the house every time a buyer booked a showing of their property. By utilizing Matterport’s technology, our 3D Virtual Tours have provided a solution that allows buyers to view and walk-through properties from the comfort of their homes while making it more convenient for sellers.
Fast forward to today, and we’ve also branched out into different commercial industries such as Restaurants, Hotels, Retirement Homes, Educational Facilities, Art and Culture Facilities, Warehouses, Beauty Studios, and Dog Daycares. Our Matterport 3D Virtual Tours help to bridge the gap between businesses and consumers. It’s an accessible solution that was proven during the pandemic.
What is your magic sauce?
Our magic sauce is that, before anything else, we created this company with the intention of being the best company to work for.
In doing this, we are making sure our employees are taken care of and feel valued. There is a high emphasis placed on company culture, resulting in us becoming the best company to work with.
We have maintained a five-star rating on Google for the last five years, and you’ll notice most of these reviews comment on our client experience/customer service. We take good care of our employees so that they can take even better care of our clients and give them the world-class customer service they deserve. You will always get a personable approach working with us.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
We have three goals that we’re strongly focused on for the next five years.
- We hope to go national! Currently, we cover a wide range of locations across the GTA and surrounding areas, but we’ve made it our goal to be all over Canada. We’ve already worked on a handful of national projects with big brands. We’re looking forward to acquiring more superstar photographers, videographers, and 3D operators who can make this goal happen.
- To bring every Canadian University or College campus into the virtual world so that they are accessible to every potential student. We know how important the open house is for every student, and that’s why we strongly believe in creating an accessible option that allows any prospective student to attend.
- To be well known in the Arts and Culture world. We recently worked with a local artist, Briony, to make her exhibit 3D and received a lot of good feedback from her fans who couldn’t see the exhibit in person. It was inspiring to be a part of this, and we hope to do more of it!
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
I think it is a big issue that a lot of local Canadian companies get overlooked because U.S. or big brands might have more marketing dollars and reach. And potential clients end up suffering, as well, since they overpay for the same service they could have gotten in Canada. A lot of times, we get overbid by competition with either lower pricing or just because they have more scale.
How can people get involved?
If anyone has a space that they would like to digitize and make accessible to anyone online, they can reach out to us at 416-884-2167 or visit our website www.odyssey3d.ca
We highlighted a few industries in our goals, but we’re not limited to them. Whatever industry your space is in, we’re happy to help!