CoPilot Co. is one of only 10 businesses chosen for the opportunity to connect with prospective partners, investors, and customers.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, November 12, — Winnipeg-based tech and film studio CoPilot Co. is gearing up for takeoff to Silicon Valley, thanks to a national tech startup accelerator program. As one of only 10 businesses across Canada chosen to participate in the Canadian Technology Accelerator (CTA) Mixed Reality program in Silicon Valley, CoPilot will be heading to San Mateo, California on Monday November 18 to showcase their flagship AI tool, FlightDeck.
“We’re looking forward to learning from tech leaders & experts in Silicon Valley,” said Reid Valmestad, Co-Founder and Director of Business Development & Operations at CoPilot. “This is a great opportunity to represent Manitoba on a global scale.”
The CTA Mixed Reality program aims to connect Canadian tech startups developing mixed reality tools and solutions, such as virtual production and augmented reality, with potential partners, investors, and customers. The 10 week program includes mentoring sessions with leading experts, culminating in a week-long trip to the Bay Area.
“We’re most excited about the opportunities to make connections,” said Austin MacKay, Co-Founder and Director of Virtual Production. “We’ve learned from experience that growing in any industry, especially in tech, is all about making these connections.”
This isn’t the first time CoPilot has made international waves. Earlier this year, the business’s two co-founders travelled to South Korea for the Team Canada Trade Mission to South Korea. As the only delegates representing Manitoba’s Creative industries, MacKay and Valmestad used the opportunity to pursue valuable partnerships in new markets and showcase what Manitoba’s creative sector has to offer.
“We’re always so honoured to be selected for programs designed to help local companies grow on an international scale,” said Valmestad. “We’ve been able to make some amazing connections and share our team’s work with people from all over the world.”
On Monday MacKay & Valmestad will be showcasing FlightDeck, CoPilot’s flagship AI tool designed to make Unreal Engine accessible to everyone. Unreal Engine is a real-time rendering engine used for applications like game design, filmmaking, and virtual production, but with its steep learning curve, the barrier to entry is high.
FlightDeck was designed to remove that barrier to entry. Using conversational prompts, creators could harness Cesium and Google Maps API to quickly create environments in Unreal Engine.
“You basically have an entire virtual replica of Earth built in your engine for you in a matter of seconds,” said MacKay.
The AI tool was initially released in 2023 to overwhelming international interest. The CoPilot website saw thousands of Beta downloads worldwide, causing it to crash twice.
“When we first launched, FlightDeck was for helping filmmakers, creatives, and documentary makers tell their story in Unreal Engine,” said Valmestad. “Now, where we're seeing interest from is in architecture, engineering, city planning, and even aerospace.”
After the initial launch, the CoPilot team rebuilt FlightDeck with an array of new features. Now, users’ prompts can control lighting, environments, cameras, actors, and more.
“This version includes everything we had to offer in the original in a much more streamlined way,” said Valmestad.
FlightDeck is set to launch to the public in early 2025. Sign up for the waiting list here: www.copilotco.io/flightdeck
For more information, please contact:
Angel Pangilinan
Communications & Media Specialist
431-877-1050
press@copilotco.io
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