VR First is an initiative designed to provide state-of-the-art facilities to anyone interested in exploring the power and potential of virtual reality development. The program encourages educational institutions around the world to establish dedicated VR labs on their campuses by partnering with leading VR industry stakeholders. The overarching goal of VR First is to nurture new talent in grass-roots VR development and create a global community equipped to embrace this exciting field of technology. Launched in January 2016, VR First has achieved significant outreach in the industry. 509 universities worldwide have applied to join the program, showing the great need of academic institutions for expertise, hardware and software to prepare developers for the VR industry and empower them to realize their own projects.