EDVIRT GEARING UP AFTER MANAGEMENT BUYOUT

EDVIRT IS A VR AND TRAINING COMPANY TARGETING THE TUNNEL AND MINING INDUSTRY. EDVIRT TRAINS AND CERTIFIES STAFF USING VR TECHNOLOGY. THE COMPANY WILL NOW TAKE THE NEXT STEP IN ITS GROWTH PLAN; HAVING THE MANAGEMENT BUY THE COMPANY, APPOINTING A NEW CEO AND DEVELOP A NEW VR SERVICE.

Eric Odkrans and Petter Börjesson founded Edvirt after studies at Chalmers University of Technology. The company has also been owned by the startup accelerator Chalmers Ventures, as well as the tunneling contractor BESAB.

Edvirt has now been acquired by Eric, Petter and the company's new CEO Tomislav Rogan. The management will change in such a way that the former CEO Eric Odkrans will instead become sales and business development manager, in addition to the role of chairman of the holding company. The new owners will continue to focus on virtual education for the tunnel and mining industry, while expanding Edvirt's service portfolio and presence in existing markets.  The company is, for example, planning the release of a new virtual training service during Q1-2019.

From left: Petter Börjesson - Technical Manager, Tomislav Rogan - CEO, Eric Odkrans - Head of Business Development 

Comment from founder and former CEO, Eric Odkrans

Why are you buying the company?
The main reason is because we believe in the company, both in terms of what we have done so far and the future strategy. Edvirt was founded in 2013 and it has been an incredibly journey. Our spray concrete simulator has gone from being a research project at Chalmers, to a requirement by the Swedish Transport Agency and a national standard in Sweden. We have developed three different products and related services that are today being sold internationally. Furthermore, I am very proud that we have implemented VR in a good way. Many companies seem to only use the technology because it's a "cool thing" - it has added great value for us and our customers.

Edvirt has in a short period of time established itself in the tunnel and mining industry, and we have customers all over the world. Our subsidiary in Australia was started with a minimum budget - and now, after two years, it has already reached break-even. We have developed Edvirt with a strong focus on sales and customer financing and so far we have not received one dime in venture capital – therefore it is even more exciting to show sales of approximately 8.5 MSEK in 2017 and an operating profit of about 1 MSEK. It feels like the right timing to make an ownership change, keep momentum and accelerate forward.

Why the change of CEO?
I am very pleased that Tomislav is joining the team. I have know him since the university and we have worked together before. He is extremely industrious, structured, and capable of leading people. AND we have fun together! Having Tomislav join the team, I will be able to focus more on what I like the most - sales and leading our sales team. We want to increase the company's sales so I think its best if I focus my energy on that.

How will the Board be constitued?
It will change somewhat. In the last two years, Petter Börjesson, Jan E. Liljeqvist, Lars-Göran Dahlqvist and Christian Kleen have served as Board members. I would especially like to thank the last three.

Lars-Göran and Christian at BESAB have also really proven that their company cares about improving the tunnel industry. However, the person who has contributed the most has been a substitute, their CTO, Tommy Ellison, who came up with the idea of spray concrete simulator to begin with. Tommy is a technical genius and a great asset for us and also the entire tunnel industry.

Comment from CEO Tomislav Rogan

What happens now?
I have known Eric for many years now and I've followed Edvirts development from the start at Chalmers. I am very happy to take a place in the team and I look forward to have Edvirt gearing up. An exciting time is awaiting, where our focus will be on strengthening our home markets Sweden and Australia, as well as increasing the number of international partners. We are also working on a new virtual training service for the Australian mining industry, which we are looking forward to launch.

Our goal is to grow Edvirt while at the same time maintain good profitability. We all believe in a structure where all owners are active in the company and we hope to take the steps required to reach 20 MSEK in revenues with a profit of 20-25% over the next two years.

For more information, please contact

Eric Odkrans
Head of Business Development
Tel: +46 73 766 26 37
Email: eric.odkrans@edvirt.com

EDVIRT AND NCC IN COOPERATION AROUND VIRTUAL TRAINING FOR WEST LINK PROJECT

NCC'S TUNNEL OPERATORS ARE UNDERTAKING EDVIRT'S DIFFERENT CERTIFICATION COURSES TO BE EQUIPPED FOR THE WEST LINK PROJECT. AS A PART OF THIS, THEIR SHOTCRETE OPERATORS ARE  BEING TRAINED AND TESTED IN VIRTUAL REALITY. 

The West Link project has just received approval and the project has officially started. Together with the German company Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau, NCC has been awarded the Korsvägen stage, which is one of the sub-projects with the most work underground in the project. After the summer, this work is expected to begin and until then the tunnel operators need to be fully trained.  

In total, the West Link project's budget is 20 billion SEK. It will be 8 km, whereby 6 km will consist of tunnel and it will include three underground stations. The Swedish Transport Administration has so far procured stages worth 14 billion SEK. NCC has so far been awarded the biggest part, as the contract for Korsvägen is worth about 2.4 million SEK and the new Central station is approximately 4.7 billion SEK. 

As for the E4 Stockholm Bypass project,  the Swedish Transport Administration requires operators who performs spray concrete, grouting and bolting works in the West Link project to be certified. Edvirt and NCC Infrastructure have therefore entered into a cooperation where NCC's tunnel operators will undergo Edvirt's different certification courses.

The concrete spraying certification includes a few days of training and simulator tests, where operators have to prove their skills. During week 21, Edvirt initiated the virtual courses at NCC's facility in Jordbro and their first operators underwent 17 tests in Edvirt's 'VR Shotcrete Simulator ™'.

For more information contact:

Eric Odkrans
Head of Business Development
Tel: +46 73 766 26 37
Email: eric.odkrans@edvirt.com

WTC in Dubai

Between 21-25th of april, Edvirt, in collaboration with BASF, attended the World Tunnel Congress in Dubai. Edvirt´s own Adrian Hedström held a presentation about sprayed concrete certification training at the ITAtech meeting.
Alot of people also got to try our VR Shotcrete Simulator during the BASF Master Sprayer Competition. We look forward to seeing you again next year in Naples, Italy.

Edvirt visits India

This time Edvirt went to India to showcase the VR Shotcrete Simulator together with BASF. Visits included Afcons in Nagpur and a few other locations. The simulator was well recieved and we promise to come back soon!

Bergdagarna

Bergmekanikdagen och Bergteknikdagen (formerly known as BK-dagen) was held at Münchenbryggeriet in Stockholm.
Edvirt had a sucessful exhibition at the event where we had great discussions about concrete spraying and the importance of training.
Congratulations to Anton Lind who won the Master Sprayer Competition and recieved a tablet.

Edvirt in Hong Kong

Edvirt™ started off the year by making an apperance in Hong Kong to showcase our VR Shotcrete Simulator™ in the asian-pacific region.
The event was organized by BASF and included visits to CIC (Construction Innovation and Technology Application Centre), Paul Y. Engineering and Infinity Lab where the "Golden Nozzle Competition" was held.

We would especially like to thank James Mulholland and Michelle Poulter for organizing this amazing event!

Collaboration with employment agency

The Unit for External Employer Interaction in Stockholm (EfAS - Enheten för Extern Arbetsgivarsamverkan, Stockholms Stad) is an agency that works with special employment programs and various forms of adult education to give local citizens the opportunity to work, career change and develop in the workplace.

Edvirt has during the autumn collaborated with EfAS in training 9 selected participants with the aim of getting them work in the E4 Stockholm Bypass project. The training included both sprayed concrete and rock grouting courses developed to equip the participants with vital knowledge to work with the processes in the project. The courses included theory, laboratory tests and simulation training. 

Certification at Boliden

Edvirt® is currently training some operators at Boliden's sites in the Skellefteå area as a part of Boliden's new certification Bergförstärkning med sprutbetong inom Boliden ("Rock support with shotcrete at Boliden"), established together with Edvirt®. The certification courses include theory, lab tests and simulator training and assessments.

Simulator to Hinkley POINT C, UK

As of early October this year, Bam Nuttall in United Kingdom recieved a 3D Shotcrete simulator™. The simulator is to be used by operators who work on the construction site of Hinkley Point C, a new nuclear power station by EDF Energy.
Bam Nuttall is requiring all SCL operators to pass an on site assessment and Edvirt´s simulation certification program, ESCOT™.
In charge of the training is Malcolm Galvin, SCL General Foreman at BAM Nuttall.

Edvirt at BASF shotcrete workshop

During 23-25 october Edvirt joined BASF for a sprayed concrete workshop in Switzerland. The workshop was held in Hagerbach Test Gallery, a showcase tunnel for research and development in underground mining. Edvirt had the opportunity to showcase our shotcrete simulator and talk about the importance of training. The event also included cement and accelerator reactivity testing, concrete mixing and a spraying demo with Atlas Copcos ME5.

Training collaboration with Redpath Australia

We are pleased to announce a training collaboration with Redpath Australia to provide Edvirt’s sprayed concrete operator training courses to their operators. The first training sessions have been conducted at Redpath Australia’s head office in Brisbane during March and April. Additional training courses will be rolled out across a number of Redpath’s Australian projects.

The training consists of a theory and a simulator module and will be integrated into Redpath’s training organisation. Upon satisfactory completion of the course, operators receive the ESCOT™ certificate.

First E4 Stockholm Bypass Sprayed Concrete theory course performed

Edvirt is accredited by the Swedish Transport Administration to run sprayed concrete courses and issue the certificate "Sprutning med sprutbetong inom Trafikverket". The certificate is required for operators that work underground with sprayed concrete in the E4 Stockholm Bypass project. 20 persons attended the first course that was held at SIKA's facilities in Stockholm last week. The course included theory, laboratory tests and simulation training. 

The next course is scheduled for 2-5th of May. If you want to know more or register, please go to http://www.edvirt.com/sprayed-concrete-e4-sthlm-bypas or contact eric.odkrans@edvirt.com

Bergmekanikdagen and BK-dagen

Great to see so many at Edvirt's booth at Bergmekanikdagen and BK-dagen last week! Congratulations to Johan Holmberg from Rockplan Sweden AB who won the VR Master Spraying Competition and received a well deserved tablet. 

Training with QME in Ireland

In february, Edvirt went to Ireland and helped QME organize their machine scaling training for their operators in order for them to be prepared for the arrival of their JAMA scaling machines. The training included theory and simulator practice with Edvirt's 3D Scaling Simulator™.

First two E4 Stockholm Bypass grouting courses - Fully booked!

Edvirt is accredited by the Swedish Transport Administration to run grouting courses and issue the certificate "Berginjektering inom Trafikverket". The certificate is required for operators that work underground with grouting in the E4 Stockholm Bypass project. 40 people attended the first two courses that were held at SIKA's facilities in Stockholm last week. Johan Funehag was the course leader and the courses included theory, laboratory tests and simulation training. 

The next courses are scheduled for 24-28th of April. If you want to know more or register, please go to http://www.edvirt.com/sthlm-bypass-injection-cert or contact eric.odkrans@edvirt.com

Läs om Edvirt och vår VD i dagens GP!

Simulator training for WestConnex's M4 East and New M5 shotcrete operators

This January, Edvirt started an Australian subsidiary (Edvirt Australia Pty Ltd) following growing demand in the Australian market.

We are now happy to announce a training collaboration between WestConnex M4 East, WestConnex New M5 and Edvirt. Starting in September, shotcrete operators in the project will go through training sessions comprising online, theoretical, simulator and practical modules. The training is nationally recognised and will also be offered to other interested customers.

For more information, please read this press release or contact christian.reich@edvirt.com.

E4 Stockholm Bypass sprayed concrete operator certification

Source: www.trafikverket.se

All sprayed concrete operators working in the E4 Stockholm Bypass project are obligated to be project certified. The certification is issued by Trafikverket (The Swedish Transport Administration) and includes both theoretical and practical training and assessment. The practical part is performed on Edvirt's 3D Shotcrete Simulator™ at Trafikverket's facilities in Kista, Stockholm.

All operators have to go through and pass 17 assignments on the simulator. The training course is scheduled through Edvirt. Having operators working in the project without a valid certification is accounted as a contract breach between the hired contractor and Trafikverket.

If you want more information, please read this press release or contact eric.odkrans@edvirt.com.

To schedule training for you operators, please go to the following website:
http://www.edvirt.com/stockholm-bypass-operator-certification

Edvirt at MinExpo in Las Vegas

At the end of September, Edvirt exhibited at MinExpo in Las Vegas. Together with BASF and Putzmeister, attendees got to try the Atlas Copco MEYCO Versa and Putzmeister SPM500 machines. 

Additionally, this was the first time the public got to try the Putzmeister SPM500 machine which was recently implemented into the simulator.

Training and certification with Peace River Hydro Partners in Canada

In September Edvirt delivered it's first training with the newly implemented SPM500 machine, following the recent collaboration with Putzmeister. To ensure that site engineers have the know-how and that shotcrete operators meet the designated standards, PRHP is working with Edvirt to issue the internal certification Nozzleman Training Certificate to its employees. The certificate is based on the theory and training offered for the ESCOT™ certificate as well as the EFNARC certification.