Former New Frontiers participant lists on Irish Stock Exchange

Immersive VR Education is a virtual/augmented reality software company dedicated to transforming how educational content is delivered and consumed

Former New Frontiers participant company Immersive VR Education listed on the Irish Stock Exchange’s Enterprise Securities Market recently. The Waterford-based technology firm raised €6.7m before expenses through listings on Dublin’s Enterprise Securities Market (ESM) and the AIM in London. The placing of 60,000,000 shares of 10p each implied a valuation of around €21.6m on admission and the deal was oversubscribed.

Immersive VR Education is a virtual/augmented reality software company dedicated to transforming how educational content is delivered and consumed globally by  providing educators the tools they need to create their own content in virtual classroom or virtual training environments. David Whelan (CEO) who is a graduate of WIT, said that the AR/VR market is growing and as hardware becomes more affordable, growth will gain further traction.

“We are at the forefront of this as a VR software and technology group operating in the niche education sector, we provide students, educators with a customisable learning environment” he said.

David Whelan participated in the New Frontiers Programme, in ArcLabs, the WIT Research and Incubation Centre in 2016 and recommends the programme at WIT to ambitious entrepreneurs involved in a start-up business.

“New Frontiers is a place where you can shape your idea into a business with a group of peers and prepare your business plan for scrutiny from venture capitalists. It’s been instrumental to establishing a solid base for our continued success and the contacts we made during the programme will of course always be useful for advice and guidance going forward.”

Immersive VR Education’s listing on the Irish Stock exchange celebrates a number of firsts:

• The first IPO for an Irish tech firm on the Irish Stock Exchange’s Enterprise Securities Market (ESM) since inception in 2005!

• First technology firm in the southeast to list on the Irish Stock Exchange

• First New Frontiers graduate company to list on the Irish Stock Exchange

Read about David Whelan’s experience of the New Frontiers programme.

New Frontiers is an entrepreneur development programme funded by Enterprise Ireland and managed by the School of Business at Waterford Institute of Technology. Phase 1 of the programme is delivered on a part-time basis, typically one evening per week for eight weeks. Phase 2 of New Frontiers is an intensive six month full-time programme of practical workshops and mentoring where participants learn how to establish and run a new high growth potential company. Start-up promoters are eligible to receive a stipend of €15,000 for their full-time participant on Phase 2 of New Frontiers. See www.wit.ie/newfrontiers for application dates.