AUSTIN, Texas — Interplay Learning announced it has completed a $5.5 million Series A round of financing. S3 Ventures led the investment round with participation from Shasta Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Holt Ventures, Wild Basin Investments, and Shelter Capital Partners. Charlie Plauche, Partner with S3 Ventures, will join Interplay Learning’s board of directors. The round will support onboarding talent in its Austin offices and customer success team, in addition to aggressively accelerating expansion into new markets and developing new platform features.

“HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and other skilled trade companies traditionally have had a massive ‘skills gap’ and worker shortage issue,” said Charlie Plauche, partner with S3 Ventures. “Until now, there was no way for job candidates to get experiential training online. Interplay Learning’s game-changing platform utilizing VR and 3D simulations is revolutionizing the way skilled trades are taught. It has already been used to train thousands of workers. When I spoke with current customers, it was clear that Interplay Learning helps skilled labor companies attract and train talent faster with its state-of-the-art 3D simulations at a lower cost.”