Pat O’Connor kicked the tires on other sites when looking for the first U.S. location for his simulation company VRAI.
But he says a part of him had an idea pretty early on in the process about where he would ultimately land his Ireland-based company.
“It was always a no-brainer,” said O’Connor of launching in Orlando. “Orlando blew any other location away.”
O’Connor cited the community’s depth in several important resources, including talent, industry and academia.
Ever since he has landed in Orlando, O’Connor has been thrilled to see the defense ecosystem that is already in place.
Its connection to UCF’s Business Incubation Program has also helped introduce O’Connor to potential relationships and resources, he said.
“It felt like we were not just opening another office but joining a community,” O’Connor said. “I have never seen anything like it. It’s so business-friendly.”
The incubation program offers a “soft landing” program that helps give established companies a start in Central Florida, allowing time for networking and gathering of local resources.
The incubator has been crucial to attracting new firms to Central Florida since it launched 25 years ago.
“VRAI is a perfect example of who we want to bring to Central Florida through the soft landing program,” said Carol Ann Logue, the director of the Innovation Districts Programs & Operations. “They have a significant track record of success already and the potential to become a major company in our region, too. Their technology can improve the data coming from simulations and we’re looking forward to being a part of their expansion into this market.”
VRAI comes into the region with an already impressive string of accomplishments and track record.
The Financial Times named it one of Europe’s top early-stage defense companies.
The company provides human performance data products for simulation training in aerospace, defense, security and offshore energy industries.
Among its clients are the Royal Air Force and BAE Systems.
The products enable the capture, storage, analysis and visualization of data generated in simulators in order to reduce time, save cost and improve trainee performance.
As he considered Orlando, O’Connor kept in communication with the incubator to learn more about the region’s resources.
In turn, incubator leaders made sure he knew about the businesses in the area, how they could help and what kind of office options were available.
VRAI has complementary products for simulators that they or other companies build.
Its signature product HEAT was developed two years after the company’s 2017 launch, adding analytics to existing simulators.
The company recently raised $5 million in a Series A round, a feat that will directly contribute to its opening of the Orlando location.
The plan is to add 10 hires in Orlando within the first year.
O’Connor has developed some familiarity with Orlando over the years, having attended I/ITSEC, the defense industry’s mammoth conference held here every December, a handful of times.
“We think human performance data is an untapped resource in simulation,” he said. “The (idea is) to capture and visualize data to improve performance. We are very confident that the timing for this is right now.”