Regal Partners backs xReality Group
Earlier this month, Charlie Aitken from Regal Partners visited our Operator XR facility to experience firsthand how our virtual reality training systems are redefining mission readiness. His visit provided a close-up view of the technology driving Operator XR — and the broader vision behind xReality Group.
Following the visit, Regal Partners participated in our recent capital raise, a strong endorsement of the team, the platform, and the future we’re building.
Charlie shared his impressions with his network in the article below.
Good morning,
In the “control tower” on Saturday morning and today I am going to do something a little different.
In amongst the successful large cap IPO’s and capital raisings Regal Partners invested in last week on behalf of our investors, we also supported a growth capital raising for a microcap company led by Australian Defence Force (ADF) veterans.
xReality Group (XRG) is a $20m market cap company that successfully raised $2m last week to help accelerate its global growth ambitions. The Regal Emerging Companies Opportunities Fund (RECO) supported that capital raising.
XRG is led by Managing Director Wayne Jones..for 15 years Wayne was a Commander with the Australian Army’s Special Air Service Regiment (SASR). He was responsible for the development and performance of teams in complex and challenging environments. Wayne was highly decorated in his military career.
For our international clients, the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) is the “tip of the spear” in Australia’s Defence capabilities. The SASR are our most elite servicemen, equivalent to “Seal Team Six” in the US.
It’s amazing where writing daily notes leads you to. A little while ago in response to a defence sector note I wrote, another former SASR operator got in touch with me and said “you should go and see Wayne Jones. He’s developed this new virtual reality (VR) training system and it is getting traction globally with the military and police forces”.
I made a few other calls to defence sector contacts who unanimously said, “Wayne is one of the finest soldiers Australia has ever produced, you should definitely go and see him”.
No doubt, the transition from elite soldier back to civilian life is not easy. Regal Partners is always looking for ways to support our ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen in that transition.
Phil King and myself made the arrangements to visit XRG and test their VR training system. We made our way to a non-descript industrial warehouse in Sydney and met Wayne and his team.
Every elite former solider is the same. They are true “quiet professionals”. When they speak, they speak with clarity and purpose. They are humble, but they also have a steely resolve about them. They never talk about their military career, other than to express how they are utilising their military experience in corporate life.
Wayne and his colleagues strapped Phil & I into the VR gear and gave us both M4 carbines with gas canisters as magazines. That means when you pull the trigger you get a realistic kick from the weapon.
Nothing was said, but I could feel the XRG staff saying under their breath “look at these two clowns”! They were right.
Phil & I were tasked with a “hostage rescue” scenario on a New York subway station. We had to rescue all the hostages and eliminate the threat.
Phil, known for his bravery, said “ you take the lead”. We locked and loaded and headed down the stairs to the subway station as dozens of panicked commuters rushed up the stairs. It was complete chaos and absolutely realistic.
I can’t explain to you in words how realistic this VR technology is. It’s remarkable, you can see your own hands and its live time and scarily realistic.
We cleared the carriages successfully and Phil claims he eliminated the threat. However, we week took the VR gear off and were debriefed on our performance, it turns out Phil had also shot me 8 times in the back!! What a partner.
There is no doubt in my mind that XRG’s OperatorXR technology will not only save lives but dramatically reduce training costs for defence and police departments globally. It also vastly reduces the chances of training accidents.
Regal Partners is now backing XRG to accelerate the roll-out of Operator XR globally. They are the world leader in their VR training space.
Defence spending as percentage of GDP is structurally rising and that also includes spending on training. XRG is very well positioned to capture that spending tailwind.
While Regal Partners invested in XRG because of its multi-year revenue growth runway, it also feels right to support ADF veteran led companies when we can.
I thank Wayne and his colleagues for their service. I am certain they played a significant role in the safe Australia we live in today.
Finally, if you are an ADF veteran led company in the Defence or security sector, get in touch with Regal Partners. We would like to hear your story.
As I wrote earlier this week…
I did get a few questions from our investors and advisors about whether there were still opportunities in the defence sector after the strong performance calendar year to date..my answer is to quote Churchill… “This is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end, it’s the end of the beginning in defence sector outperformance”.
I believe this is the infancy of a multi-year bull market in key defence stocks, driven by a structural shift higher in defence spending as a percentage of GDP. Regal L/S equity funds remain very well exposed, long, to key Australian defence sector exposures, albeit occasionally we must trim some as they push up against sector weighting portfolio limits. That’s a first world portfolio management problem to have.
It remains a time to drive in a different portfolio construction lane. Defence = Portfolio Offence.
Go Australia,
Charlie Aitken
We extend our thanks to Charlie and the entire Regal Partners team for their support. With their backing, we’re well-positioned to accelerate the rollout of Operator XR where it matters most.
