Loft Dynamics, formerly VRM Switzerland, raised $20M in financing in its first institutional round. Loft Dynamics created the world’s first and only virtual reality (VR) simulator authorized by a major aviation regulator.
The funding will accelerate Loft Dynamics’ growth into international markets, particularly the USA. The rebranding from VRM Switzerland to Loft Dynamics positions the company for global expansion at a time when the pilot shortage has reached a crisis point and the need to reduce air pollution has never been more urgent. The round was led by U.S. technology investors Craft Ventures, Sky Dayton, founder of EarthLink, Boingo Wireless, investor and serial entrepreneur, and Up Ventures.
“After many years in development, we are ready to expand Loft Dynamics to become a global company and bring our technology and training solutions to the world,” said Fabi Riesen, Co-Founder & CEO of Loft Dynamics. “This funding comes at exactly the right moment as we will be able to meet the escalating demand for flight schools and accelerate the range of aircraft types we support.”
Traditional full-motion flight simulators are expensive, giant apparatuses only available in limited training centers built specifically to house them. Over the past six years, the team of engineers and aviation experts at Loft Dynamics developed a safer, more accessible, and more realistic training alternative: a unique helicopter simulator combining a high-resolution VR system, a dynamic six-degrees-of-freedom motion platform, and a full-scale replica cockpit – in a package 10 times smaller and roughly 20 times less expensive than traditional full-motion simulators. What’s more, it cuts air time training by up to 60%. Unlike traditional simulators, the Loft Dynamics training platform provides tremendous flexibility for new modules, enabling pilots to train for what they will encounter in real life before they encounter it.
First customers in Europe and the US
Loft Dynamics is already serving customers such as Airbus Helicopters, Air Zermatt, Colorado Highland Helicopters, Helitrans Norway, Meravo, and Mountainflyers. Flight schools, airlines, fleet operators, governments, and aircraft manufacturers are queuing up for a better solution to pilot training. With fewer pilots coming out of the military, and the mass retirement of pilots during the COVID-19 pandemic, the global need for trained pilots has never been higher. Loft Dynamics delivers highly efficient, exceptionally realistic, non-polluting, and dramatically less expensive pilot training.
World’s First Regulatory Approval
Loft Dynamics is the world’s first and only VR full motion simulator qualified by a major aviation regulator, with European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) authorization in May 2022 as an EASA FTD Level 3 Flight Simulation Training Device (FSTD) for the Airbus H125 (developed in collaboration with Airbus Helicopters), the most popular single-engine turbine helicopter in the world, and the Robinson R22, the most popular piston helicopter. This means that pilots can train in Loft Dynamics simulators and receive credit as though in the actual aircraft. Full equivalency has never been granted to a VR system before.
(Press release / SK)
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