Built in
Leipzig
SafeRoad VR builds VR scenario training for driving schools. A supplement to your instruction, not a replacement for your experience.
The people behind the platform
Three founders in Leipzig. Reachable, not anonymous.
Ross Shakin
CEO
Ross spent over 35 years leading film and television productions in the United States and Germany as a director, post-producer, and editor. He understands something most tech founders do not: how to make a product visually compelling before anyone reads a word about it. VR is a visual medium, and brand quality is production quality. SafeRoad VR is not an accident of opportunity for him. German driving education trains to a standard most countries never attempt, and Ross wants to keep it there by giving students and instructors tools that match. As CEO, he owns brand strategy, content production, and every piece of visual communication the company puts out.
Anton Shakin
CTO
Anton spent a decade in the VR industry, the last several years as an international training manager working across Europe. Along the way, he noticed something: German driving schools train more thoroughly than almost anywhere else. That quality deserves tools that keep up. SafeRoad VR is his answer, built from hands-on technical experience and a conviction that driving students deserve better preparation. As CTO, he owns system architecture, every technical decision, and drives platform development end to end. Born in Moscow, raised in New York City, home in Leipzig for over 20 years.
Elena Seropova
COO
Over 40 years as a professional actress in film, television, and theater across the Soviet Union, Europe, and the United States. For 18 of those years, Elena ran a theater together with Ross, building programs for adults and children and managing every side of the operation. That gave her something uncommon: an instinct for how staged scenarios land with different audiences, paired with the discipline to run what is behind the curtain. As COO at SafeRoad VR, she owns daily operations, scenario content quality, and the organizational backbone of the platform. When you have spent a career learning how people experience a performed scenario, you understand how a driving student experiences a VR one.
What made us build this
The Schnieder reform pushed German driver education into crisis. Enrollments dropped by more than half. 84 percent of driving schools report the impact. Over 10,000 instructor positions sit unfilled, averaging 307 days vacant. The tools built for the old system cannot absorb this pressure.
A 45 percent theory exam failure rate. Students who recite every right-of-way rule but freeze at the intersection. Training methods unchanged for two decades. Work inside that system long enough and you stop seeing the problems. We came from outside – and saw what was overdue.
Leipzig has been home for nearly 25 years. We know the streets, the institutions, the people. Saxony produces 40 percent of Germany's electric vehicles. BMW builds here. Porsche earned Factory of the Year 2023 here. Leipzig is a mobility hub. What was missing: a training layer between theory and road.
SafeRoad VR closes that gap. Built in Leipzig. For the German market. By people who have lived and worked here for decades.
Repetition. Targeted.
Students don't fail because of bad instruction. They fail at situations that occur too rarely in real traffic.
Some traffic situations happen too rarely to practice well. A child behind a parked car. A cyclist in the blind spot. Right-before-left at a blind intersection. VR makes these situations repeatable. No risk. No time pressure. No instructor in the car.
SUPPLEMENTARY
VR training does not replace driving hours. It gets your students ready for the lesson.
GUIDED
You choose the scenarios. You lead the debrief. Your expertise stays central.
EVIDENCE-BASED
86% correct hazard response after VR training. 31% without. Validated by independent research.
V-RAPT Study, Agrawal et al., Transportation Research Record, 2018
Where We Stand
Clear steps. No empty promises.
Q1 2026 — Building
GmbH registered (HRB 45307). Three core modules in development. Cloud backend and dashboard built. Pilot partner recruitment planned.
Q3 2026 — Pilot Launch
3 driving schools in Leipzig. 8-week trial. Real feedback from instructors and students.
Q4 2026 — Evaluation
Pilot results shape the next modules and regions. Evidence first, always.
Timeline depends on pilot results and partner availability.
Leipzig. By Choice.
Proximity to our first customers makes a better product.
ON-SITE
Setup, walkthrough, and feedback in person. No support ticket. No call center.
FAST FEEDBACK
What breaks at a pilot school, we fix within days. Development and testing happen in Saxony.
ROOTED
Nearly 25 years in Leipzig. We know the city, the people, the institutions. Economic development, chamber of commerce, state bank. Not cold contacts. Relationships built over decades.
Get to Know Us
20 minutes on the phone or in person in Leipzig. We show you the platform. You ask your questions.
No obligation. We reply within 2 business days.