EXPORTING DRIVE

A company started by accident when founder Chris Hoyle’s hobby turned into a commercial enterprise is now exporting its expertise all over the world.

rFpro is a computer software business focused on driving simulation providing a software framework that allows simulated models of cars to be run inside 3D digital models of the real world which might be test tracks, vehicle proving grounds, motor racing circuits or public roads, such as highways and urban city centres.

It is used to accelerate the development of vehicles by enabling more testing to be done in the virtual world. The weather, time of day and level of traffic can all be changed instantaneously. It is increasingly being used to train and develop AI (Artificial Intelligence) for use in autonomous vehicles, subjecting the vehicle to hundreds of thousands of driving scenarios in a safe environment.

Based in Romsey, Hampshire it started in 2007 and now exports to the USA, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, China and Switzerland. rFpro is used by the majority of teams on the Formula 1, Formula E, World Endurance Championship and NASCAR grids.

In 2022 rFpro opened a facility in Yokohama, Japan with a native speaking engineering team providing technical support for customers in the Asia Pacific region.

In 2019 the company was awarded the Queen’s Award for International Trade and the Queen’s Award for Innovation – a double-win that put them in the top two per cent of all recipients.