- FLAIM Systems announced it has raised $6.7 million AUD.
FLAIM Systems – a leader in immersive learning solutions – announced its successful completion of a $6.7 million AUD Series A funding round from the Victorian Government’s $2 billion AUD investment company Breakthrough Victoria.
Breakthrough Victoria is an independent company managing the Victorian Government’s $2 billion AUD Breakthrough Victoria Fund. This fund was established to drive innovation, solve globally significant problems, deliver financial and social impact, and create high-value economic jobs in Victoria.
The announcement that Breakthrough Victoria will lead FLAIM Systems’ Series A capital raise – investing $5 million AUD into the business – highlights the commitment to making training safer for firefighters and contributing a significantly positive impact to the challenges of global warming and the environment. And Breakthrough Victoria’s investment will support the company to expand its operations and further develop its technology with job creation already commenced and projected to create 25 new high-value jobs by 2026.
Launched out of Deakin University in 2019, FLAIM Systems has developed the world’s first fully immersive virtual firefighting training system. And the FLAIM Trainer delivers a safe/cost-effective way to replicate the stress and uncertainty of real-world situations to prepare the firefighter community to respond. Plus it combines a VR headset with haptic technology, which creates a kinaesthetic feels-real experience by applying force feedback to the user. This includes simulating an operational fire hose along with a thermal vest that reproduces the heat firefighters experience in different scenarios from the direction of the fire.
The FLAIM Trainer tracks the performance data in real-time against training outcomes. And this includes task completion time, air and water usage, stress levels, where the trainee is moving and looking within the scenario, and how they position themselves and interact with virtual objects in the scenario such as gas meters, electrical boxes, or the fire itself.
Since FLAIM training is virtual, there is no carcinogen exposure to the firefighter or instructor, and 2,000 hours of annual training in one system saves the equivalent of 20 million liters of water and 27 tonnes of carbon emissions.
Ranging from bushfires in remote locations to fires on aircraft, industrial sites, and residential properties in urban areas, FLAIM Systems has developed 80 different virtual reality (VR) training scenarios that allow firefighters to train across different situations with no risk to their health or the environment. And with over 10 million professional and volunteer firefighters around the world, this technology offers the potential to make training safer for firefighters and the environment on a global scale with the company already working with more than 300 emergency services agencies, defense and higher education organizations and private enterprise in 45 countries.
The net proceeds of the $6.7 million AUD capital raise will be applied towards the development of FLAIM Systems’ technology stack and focusing on building an in-house learning development platform. And the company will strengthen its team across executive, technical, sales, marketing, and customer experience roles, and working capital to support scale-up and fund a shift from capital sales to subscription sales.
The funding has also been supported by existing seed investors, including major shareholder Deakin University, Significant Capital Ventures, and FLAIM Systems staff investing their own after-tax cash, including Chief Executive Officer Simon Miller who has personally invested $1 million AUD since commencing as a FLAIM Systems seed investor in 2019.
KEY QUOTES:
“Firefighters put their lives on the line to keep our community safe – this innovation in virtual reality training will help keep them safe during training and provide the experience they need on the frontline.”
“We see a real potential for this world-first Victorian technology to be adopted by emergency services agencies around the world.”
— Breakthrough Victoria Chair, the Hon. John Brumby AO
“We are delighted to welcome Breakthrough Victoria as a cornerstone investor in FLAIM Systems. The backing of an investor of Breakthrough Victoria’s calibre will be tremendously supportive as we enhance our technology stack, strengthen and scale up our team and accelerate our go-to-market strategy. We are also grateful for the support of our existing investors, many of whom have increased their investment in FLAIM Systems through this Series A raise.”
“This investment will provide FLAIM with the foundations for global expansion as we focus on addressing opportunities to provide safer, smarter, deeper learning solutions to high-risk and emergency situation training programs in the US and UK as well as Australia.”
“With the annual cost of firefighter injuries estimated by the US Fire Administration at between US$1.6 billion and US$5.9 billion in the US alone, and 14% of all injuries incurred during training, we see significant scope to commercialise FLAIM’s innovative Australian technology as we seek to protect the lives of those who respond to hazardous fire, safety, rescue and emergency situations.”
— FLAIM Systems Chief Executive Officer Simon Miller
