Page 44 - December 2020 January 2021

Pushing The

Boundaries

In a world that is constantly changing and where technologies are
emerging at record pace; Frontgrid is front and centre of this transformation,
disrupting, changing and growing the industry with its clients across a range of retail

and lifestyle locations. Here, RLI sits down with Co-Founder and Chief Executive
Matt Wells to discuss how the company has evolved since its inception in 2015.

ounded by business partners Matt Wells and Arabia, Emaar Entertainments in the UAE, Kingpower in
David Wood, Frontgrid and their creation Thailand and iFLY in the UK.
ParadropVR™ is the result of the two of them Despite a challenging year, the key objectives for the
F seeing the rapid development of virtual reality as company remain the same and these are to deliver an
an opportunity to allow millions of people to experience outstanding experience for ParadropVR™ guests and an
the types of thrilling, adrenaline-fuelled adventures they unrivalled service for operators.
had both been fortunate enough to enjoy in the past. An international concept with global appeal, they have a
“Experiences such as paragliding, nobody else in the number of different games and players can choose to fly
immersive entertainment business seemed to be focusing over mountains, deserts, a city or even the moon. However
on delivering adventurous experiences, even though if operators want to adapt to their local environment, they
adventure was and still is one of the fastest-growing can do that too.
segments within the leisure market,” explains Matt Wells, “That’s what King Power did at the Mahanakhon in Bangkok
Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Frontgrid. “After an for example – we created a Bangkok City Flyer experience,
intense period of research and development, we launched which was a finalist for Best Leisure Concept at the MAPIC
our first attraction, ParadropVR™ in 2017 to fill that gap Awards last year,” explains Wells.
– and we haven’t looked back since.” Both Wells and Wood realised that the pandemic was
Since the launch of the first ParadropVR™ experience causing an acceleration of existing trends, such as the shift to
in Denmark, the attraction has been installed by clients digital entertainment, and the decline of physical retail. They
in eight countries around the globe and the business is realised that they were in for a bumpy few months from a
proud to be working with world-leading leisure brands sales perspective and that their business is perfectly positioned
including RW Genting in Malaysia, Landmark Group to help real estate owners take advantage of those shifts, so
in India, Alshaya International in the Kingdom of Saudi they quickly focused on refining their product and offer.

ParadropVR City Flyer installation
at King Power Mahanakhon Bangkok
– finalist for Best Leisure Concept
at the MAPIC Awards 2019