This week, longstanding XR solutions provider Virtualware is celebrating 20 years of operation and supporting enterprise end users who are undergoing transformative XR journies.
Virtualware is a global leader in providing VR training solutions for industry, education, and healthcare companies. Since its founding in 2004, the firm has been consistently recognized as a worldwide leader in providing enterprise XR.
Unai Extremo, the CEO and Co-founder of Virtualware, added:
Twenty years ago, we couldn’t have imagined where this journey would take us. Today, as we celebrate two decades of pioneering VR, we’re excited to unveil our strategy for the next phase of growth and innovation.
Since its inception in 2004, Virtualware has secured significant partnerships to drive XR in the enterprise space, working with firms such as GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Ontario Power Generation, Gestamp, ADIF, the Spanish Ministry of Defense, Invest WindsorEssex, McMaster University, University of El Salvador, and EAN University.
Extremo also noted that the firm’s technology is used by large multinationals all over the world in the fields of nuclear power, transportation, automotive, healthcare, and education – “our VIROO platform is becoming the standard for developing and deploying VR applications easily and quickly,” they remarked.
Extremo also added:`
2023 has been marked by memorable moments. We went public, an achievement that symbolizes our growth and evolution as a company. Nearly a hundred people are shareholders of the company, many of them long-time collaborators and friends who are now part of the fabric of our company. It is an honor and an enormous responsibility that we face enthusiastically. The company has appreciated significantly in recent months, but we are aware and believe that the company’s upward trajectory is just beginning.
The news follows Virtualware becoming recognized by the Brandon Hall Group for its operational excellence, winning a Gold Award for Edtech Excellence in the Best AR/VR Solution category last week.
Additionally, the firm gained further enterprise-operation recognition by gaining a Gold Award in the Best Advance in Augmented and Virtual Reality category. Virtual won the award thanks to its collaboration with enterprise end-user GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy to leverage its VIROO VR platform in educational and industrial training use cases.
Strategic Innovation and Expansion Plan
The firm is undergoing a 2024-2026 “Strategic Plan” emphasizing innovation and global expansion in enterprise-grade AR/VR/MR solutions to accompany its landmark 20-year accomplishment.
The firm expansion plans focus on enhancing VIROO’s global presence, “VIROO is designed to revolutionize how Virtual Reality is integrated into industrial processes, a step that is ideally in tune with our mission to incorporate virtual reality into industry to foster its sustainability,” Extremo said.
VIROO is an enterprise-grade VR content creation and remote collaboration platform that offers a seamless entry point into workplace VR, facilitating end-to-end experience and enabling companies to create internal content without depending on third-party services.
With its strategic plan, Virtualware focuses on developing technological advancements and exploring new marketing and distribution opportunities, namely those in the United States. Moreover, according to the firm, Virtualware is now focusing on four pillars to launch VIROO to the next level.
The first pillar focuses on excellence in VRaaS products and services, enabling Virtualware to become further committed to delivering high-impact VRaaS solutions for business, providing substantial value across various industries.” We want to strengthen VIROO’s presence,” Extremo said. According to the CEO, the firm focuses on developing and expanding into high-potential markets, “this involves enhancing our technological capabilities and exploring new market opportunities where VIROO can have a significant impact.”
Extremo added:
We are committed to ensuring that Virtualware’s VR as a Service solution delivers maximum value and positively impacts the operations of the companies that bet on us and the industries in which they operate.
Secondly, the firm aims to drive positive social impact, sustainability outcomes, and sustainable business XR practices, “we want Virtualware to contribute to sustainability through our technologies and solutions and help other organizations adopt more sustainable practices, thus creating a positive multiplier effect in our environment.”
Lastly, Virtualware is planning to attract new top talent to the firm to support the development of the VIROO product, as 2024 looks to be a massive year for the immersive industry on the whole and for Virtualware.
Moreover, Virtualware announced that, to mark its 20 years, the firm will drive inorganic growth by identifying compatible companies to secure merger or acquisition deals. If Virtualware succeeds in its goals, it hopes to expand its reach, enhance technological capabilities, and support industry-wide global growth in the XR market.
In closing, Extremo added:
Twenty years ago, if Sergio Barrera and I had thought we would have an International Advisory Board with some of the biggest names in the world of banking and immersive technology, such as Albert Maasland and John Cunningham, we would not have believed it. But here we are, 20 years later. 20 years older. 20 years wiser. Twenty years on a journey that we still don’t know where it will take us, but for which we have a well-drawn map and many fellow travelers with whom we hope to continue to enjoy the ride.
More on Virtualware
Last year, Virtualware saw a number of success stories. In October, the firm inked a massive multi-million dollar deal with a US energy firm to rapidly upskill its workforce for entering their on-side working environments.
The VR training firm also signed a massive €1.6 million deal with Corporación Digital SA de CV. With the agreement, the client will use VIROO at the University of El Salvador to prepare future workforces.
The deal locked in a VIROO subscription plan over three years’ time, with the firm also installing and maintaining six further VIROO VR rooms across the client’s university campuses.
Moreover, in November last year, Virtualware became an official Education Summit at the Unite Summit 2023 sponsor, which sees the firm boost “the potential of immersive technology in industry and education,” it said in a statement. Virtualware also served as the event’s exclusive sponsor to unite “Unity instructors and workforce development professionals,” according to a press release from the time.
In the same month, Virtualware appointed John A Cunningham to its International Advisory Board to expand significantly Virtualware’s operations across markets in the United States. The move sees Cunningham take the role while also serving as the Chief Operating Officer of the VR/AR Association (VRARA). Cunningham is also a former Head of Government and Aerospace Business for Unity Technologies.
