Revenues at Waterford based VR Education rose by 66 per cent to almost €500,000 in the first six months of the year, as the virtual reality company benefited from the ongoing success of its previously released showcase experiences such as Apollo 11 VR and Titanic VR.
In the six months to June 30th, revenues rose by 66 per cent to €497, 362, up from €300,110 in the same six month period in 2018. The company reported a loss before tax of € 1.2 million, “in line with management expelctations”, and comparing favourably with a loss of €4.1 million reported in the same period in 2018. The company’s earnings (EBITDA) were also negative for the period, at € 0.9 million, comparable to the prior year period.
“The primary cost driver for the EBITDA loss is salary and associated costs, currently approximately € 0.2 million per month,” the company said.
Chief executive David Whelan, said the company is now starting to see increased traction of its ENGAGE platform in the US and Asia, and it will be concentrating on these markets in the future. Back in May, VR Education expanded into South Korea after securing a three-year deal worth € 210,000 over the lifetime of the contract.
“We have always had a global outlook for our products and the technology they run-on, and with Brexit uncertainty we have concluded that our success in US and Asian markets will receive greater focus than the UK market. We are already receiving an increasing number of requests from American and Asian corporate customers to work with them to produce content for VR training programmes. Indeed, we are both focused and geared-up to aim for this marketplace,” he said.
Looking ahead, Mr Whelan said that he believes 2020 is poised “for substantial growth in the VR market” with new hardware manufacturers coming into this space.
“The group continues to work tirelessly to address these new opportunities and aims to lead the way during 2020 and beyond,” he said.
