Many Worlds

Many Worlds Immersive VR training that turns pressure into instinct. Rugby decision-making & real-time AI soft-skills practice. Made in South Africa.

02/10/2026

From our founder, Weich Malan:

"Matches are won and lost on split-second decisions under pressure. They are also the hardest thing in sport to train. You can rewatch the footage and talk it through, but you never get to stand back inside the exact moment and make the call again.

That is what we built Many Worlds to change. In this short video I explain how API, Adaptive Performance Intelligence, adapts to each athlete, meeting them where they are, not where they are supposed to be.

It is being tested right now by elite coaches and players here in South Africa, and we are in the running in two categories at the 2026 Investec ESEY Awards, the Future of AI and the Future of Education and Work.

Two doors are open right now. We are onboarding our first founding pilot partners, and we have opened our first funding round. If either of those is you, let's talk.

Same dream, new medium."

OPUS.org Investec

14/09/2026

From our founder, Weich Malan:

The vision of Many Worlds did not start with a rugby simulator. First I built something for boardrooms. And the moment I knew the idea worked came from a lawyer who did not want to be there.

My thesis convinced me that if you put people inside an immersive world, whether narrative or physical, they drop the act, and you can finally measure how they actually behave. So I built leadership and active listening training in VR, with a conversational AI you could genuinely talk to.

We ran it after a roleplaying workshop with a few lawyers. One person had no interest in the traditional training. I will not pretend I know exactly why, but if I had to guess, it was because it left them feeling vulnerable, exposed to colleagues who might judge them.

When the headset came out, their curiosity was piqued. They put it on to do the same active listening training, but this time in a virtual environment with an AI character. And something shifted. They stopped performing for the room and engaged with the person in front of them. Their mistakes felt private. Shielded from the outside world, they felt safe. They were authentic.

At the end, they could see their own scorecard. Not a trainer explaining how they had improved, but quantifiable data they could see for themselves. And the facilitator could use that same scorecard to teach the skill further.

That was the proof. The idea worked.

There was just one problem. Nobody was biting. Maybe the market was not ready. Maybe we needed more than an MVP. Either way, convincing companies to put their people in front of these simulations was a bit too early. The technology was right. The timing was not.

I did not know it yet, but that lesson, right idea, wrong time, was about to send me somewhere I never expected.

Same dream, new medium.

14/09/2026

Before the rugby simulator, I built something for boardrooms. Leadership and active listening training in VR, with an AI you could genuinely talk to...

09/09/2026

It was never about the headset. It has always been about the data and the intelligence it surfaces.

Same dream, new medium.

09/09/2026

From our founder, Weich Malan:

I did not get into virtual reality through gaming. I got into it through psychotherapy.

My Master's thesis looked at how VR could help people in therapy. That journey has shaped how I build everything now.

When you put someone inside an immersive world, something happens. They feel safe enough to drop the act. They stop performing and they start behaving like themselves. And once people behave authentically, you can finally measure it.

Most training cannot do that. It can tell you when someone showed up, or if they passed a quiz. It cannot tell you if they actually got better at the thing that matters when the pressure is on.

That one question, can we measure whether someone truly improved, is the reason Many Worlds exists. It is why our rugby simulator does not just drop you into a match. It measures where you are at, tracks how you react within the simulation, and adjusts the training accordingly to help you reach a state of flow that feels natural.

The headset was never the point. It has always been and will forever be about the data and the intelligence it surfaces.

Same dream, new medium.

More on the journey at manyworlds.co.za

From our founder, Weich Malan:I know I have been quiet, but with good reason. Things are moving, and we are climbing.Tod...
08/09/2026

From our founder, Weich Malan:

I know I have been quiet, but with good reason. Things are moving, and we are climbing.

Today I am very excited to announce that Many Worlds is in the running for the Investec Early-Stage Entrepreneur of the Year (ESEY) Awards, in two categories: the Future of AI, and the Future of Education and Work.

There is still a lot to prove and it is still early, but that is exactly what drew us to submit our vision to these awards. As OPUS.org put it, the ESEYs don't celebrate traction, they reward the audacity to begin.

Audacity has been my word of the past year, because what we are really chasing is not a trophy. It is proving that a gut feeling we have had from the start is right. That virtual reality and AI, and the intelligent layer they generate together, are the future of training and personal growth.

Decision-making under pressure. Composure. The things a great coach can feel but never quite quantify. We are building the technology to make those things visible, starting on the rugby field and extending to how people learn and grow.

Here is where you come in, a little later. Soon this opens to a public vote, and getting through will come down to how many people are willing to back us. I am not asking for anything today. I just wanted you to know it is happening, and that when the time comes, your vote is going to matter more than you think.

Thank you to Investec and OPUS for backing founders who have the audacity to listen to their gut and take the leap to do something extraordinary. And to everyone who has watched, tested, pushed back on and encouraged this along the way, this milestone is shared with you.

Same dream, new medium.

manyworlds.co.za

26/06/2026

In rugby, the moments that decide matches are often the hardest to train. They are split second, chaotic, and difficult or even dangerous to recreate on a field.

Virtual reality is perfectly positioned to change that. It lets players rehearse those nuanced, high pressure moments safely, over and over, until they become second nature.

But this reaches far beyond sport. VR is becoming one of the most powerful tools we have for both training and education.

Here is a clip from our recent SABC News interview unpacking it. Would love to hear your thoughts.

25/06/2026

Some of the most important moments in rugby are almost impossible to train. They are fast, they are chaotic, and trying to recreate them on a field can be dangerous.

That is exactly where VR comes in. You can rehearse those split second, high pressure moments over and over, safely, until they become instinct.

VR is not just gaming. It is one of the most powerful tools we have for training and education.

Link to full clip from our SABC News chat with Nicole Kente in bio 🎧

What would you train if you could rehearse it a hundred times?

23/06/2026

VR usually represents “gaming”. Last week we had a very different conversation with SABC.

Our founder Weich Malan & Kennedy Tsimba unpacked the bigger picture VR can have. What becomes possible when real coaching expertise and the right technology combine.

We believe South Africa can lead the world in how immersive technology train people everywhere.

🔗 Full conversation of the SABC conversation in bio

07/05/2026

Fantastic night TCL South Africa launch of the TCL SQD-Mini LED TVs😎

Next level quality meets next level reality 🤩

We had the privilege of showcasing our Flyhalf Vision on TCL's newest & most impressive screen 🖥️

Not only was the vibe fantastic but we had a blast showing off our virtual reality to the attendees including some professional rugby players 🏉

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58 Totius Street, Groenkloof
Pretoria
0181

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