Middlesbrough tech firm Animmersion reveals scaleup ambitions

North East tech firm Animmersion is planning to create new jobs and more than triple turnover as part of its scaleup strategy.

The Middlesbrough-based company wants to boost its annual sales figure, which currently stands at just under £1m, to around £3m in the next five years.

Animmersion creates digital products such as virtual and augmented reality, holograms, animations, apps and interactive marketing systems for businesses.

Having experienced a decade of mostly organic growth since its launch in 2006, the firm now plans to expand its 18-strong team during the next three years with the creation of at least 12 jobs.

Animmersion’s managing director, Dominic Lusardi, said: “Advances in technology and virtual reality has led to an acceptance that digital media is here to stay.

“This means that the opportunities we have as a business are growing dramatically and we want to scale-up to match those opportunities.”

Animmersion works across sectors such as engineering, manufacturing, subsea, offshore, automotive, retail and healthcare.

Animmersion is currently one of 15 firms participating in the inaugural Entrepreneurs’ Forum Scale-up Leaders Academy – a 50-hour programme, spread over 12 months, for owners of high-growth businesses looking to accelerate their operations.

Dominic continued: “We have always had ambitions to scale up so we jumped at the opportunity to sign up to the Academy, and it’s definitely been working so far.

“Taking ideas from the programme as well as other business leaders, and practically applying them to the business, has definitely influenced growth in my opinion.”

The chief executive of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, Gillian Marshall, commented: “The very core of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum is to support the scale up ambitions of North East businesses.

“This is why we are delighted to have Animmersion in the Scale-up Academy, and why it is so pleasing to see the company’s confidence in its growth plans.”

She added: “This kind of business growth is what many more North East entrepreneurs need to aim if we are to unlock the social economic and employment potential that scale-up can offer our region.”