Former Royal Marine looking to expand his fledgling combat training technology business in Britain warns he may be driven to US to raise money
A former Royal Marine looking to expand his fledgling combat training technology business in Britain warns he may be driven to the US to raise money.
4GD uses virtual reality and special effects to allow soldiers to practice combat in smaller facilities in Army garrisons instead of having to travel to vast training areas such as Salisbury Plain.
The company’s technology is already being used at Merville Barracks in Colchester, Essex.
Fighting fit: 4GD uses virtual reality and special effects to let soldiers practice fighting in smaller facilities in army garrisons
Now co-founder Rob Taylor, a former Royal Marine, is looking to expand domestically, as well as the United States, both of which need new capital.
He said: ‘It was initially our intention as a British-owned and veteran-owned company that we really wanted to keep things in the UK.’
But he found that the higher valuations that could be obtained on the other side of the Atlantic, as well as the reduction in tax breaks for UK entrepreneurs, tested “patrioticism or the desire to preserve sovereignty.”
Taylor said: ‘We need to encourage higher valuations of high-growth UK start-ups because if you’re valued at, say, £40m in the UK and £100m in the US, it’s not in the company’s interest to put equity in keep the UK.’
The company is launching a fundraising campaign with the aim of reaching a ‘low nine-figure’ valuation, raising tens of millions of pounds. Taylor added that at best, the company would likely do a “mixed” round of funding on both sides of the Atlantic, but it would likely be primarily in the US.