See how Orlando augmented-reality firm Red 6 will use $70M in Series B funding

New plans are in the works now that Orlando augmented-reality firm Red 6 has completed $70 million in Series B funding. In fact, CEO Daniel Robinson said the lion’s share of the capital will be invested in new high-wage jobs, primarily in metro Orlando.

Why this matters: Red 6 in 2021 moved its headquarters from California to Florida, with the promise to create 100 jobs combined in Orlando and Miami. Local job creation by tech companies like Red 6 means more high-wage positions in the economy.

Orlando Inno asked Robinson about recent developments at Red 6 and what we can expect from the company’s dual-use augmented-reality technology in the future.

Here's what he had to say:

What milestones did Red 6 meet prior to this Series B funding?

There weren't predefined milestones. The reason we're able to raise money is that people believe in my vision. They believe I'm right that the long-term future of training for the U.S. military is anchored in outdoor synthetic training environments. Five years ago, there were so many technical problems that we hadn't solved. Now, the maturation of the technology equals increased resources and increased human beings doing work. 

Will part of the funds be used to hire more people? 

Most of the funds will be used to hire more people. Around 70% of new hires will be engineers. When we elected to relocate to Florida, we chose Orlando as the right place to be based for a number of reasons. You have the cluster of industries that complement ours, the prevalence of military bases, a great infrastructure, connectivity coming in with Brightline, and really importantly, you have access to an abundance of human capital and talent from the town coming out of UCF, UF and Full Sail [University]. We've really benefited from getting first-class talent in Orlando. As you've seen in the last year or so, we've now already employed over 30 people in metro Orlando, and that's continuing to grow.

We’ve heard Miami named as Red 6’s headquarters. On your website, it says Orlando. Which is it?

Our long-term plans involve the broader scale out of Orlando as our headquarters, which it is right now. The bulk of the build-out over the next five to 10 years is focused in Orlando, and that will be our home. In terms of the creation of jobs, I envision massive scale as the company grows, and then Orlando obviously benefits directly from that.

For OBJ readers new to Red 6, what does your integrated visual augmentation system accomplish?

What we have done with ATARS — or advanced tactical augmented reality system — that distinguishes it from other simulation technologies for training, is that we dragged simulation outdoors for the first time. We brought those simulated walls outdoors and meshed them with the real world around us, which allows a person being trained to do the job for real, but with all the benefits of simulation as well.

You have said that ATARS will directly address the U.S. and allied military's pilot shortage. How so?

It gives a high quality of training much faster at a fraction of the cost in a safe environment. It's all about readiness and being prepared to face the threat, and what we need to be able to do is train against relevant problem sets at scale.

Can you make this experience real for us by describing a training scenario?

Let me give you an example of air-to-air refueling training. Traditionally, we're gonna go out and teach you how to do air-to-air fueling, which is basically a gas station in the sky. We're asking students to go up there and physically plug their airplane into another airplane, which involves flying in close proximity whilst you're moving gas from one airplane to another airplane. You can imagine trying to do that at night, as well. Traditionally, the first time a student air-to-air fuels, it is done in real life. It's really terrifying and really dangerous. Wearing our optic set and using our technology, students can learn that in a representative way, in a risk-free environment.

How can Red 6 tech be used commercially?

There are commercial use cases for any outdoor augmented-reality uses you might think of. For example, theme parks may be a good one, where you could take a real-world physical experience and combine it with access to digital content. We might go to a theme park together and you may love Star Wars and I love The Little Mermaid. I do love The Little Mermaid. So we jump on a rollercoaster and we are on the same rollercoaster, but potentially experiencing fundamentally different rides. With this technology, you enter a Star Wars ride and I may enter my favorite Little Mermaid ride, right? And off we go! So the blending of physical experiences with digital content applies here with entertainment experiences. 

Red 6 Series B funding details

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