Engineering international success through a WTC Utah trade mission

3D printing aerospace company, Optisys, utilizes export acceleration grant funding to expand in Asia and Europe.

In May 2015, a group of engineers founded Optisys and developed a way to design aerospace products through metal 3D printing. Primarily crafting antennas for top aircraft manufactures such as Lockheed and Boeing, Optisys has a reputation of quality and fast customization.

“We knew we had something special. We could fine tune our printers to make these parts lighter and faster,” said Janos Opra, chief business officer of Optisys. “Now that we are taking off in recognition, we need to get our product out there in markets before competitors do. When we heard out the Export Acceleration grant, we knew we needed to apply.”

Optisys received a grant through the 2017 WTC Utah’s Export Acceleration Grant, funded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. With the funding, the company attended multiple trade shows and a state-led trade mission to Singapore and Vietnam.

“As a small company, the grant funding was key to opening so many opportunities for us. We can’t afford to attend these events initially because we are so small and new,” said Opra. “Funding from World Trade Center Utah has been key to helping us grow internationally.”

While on the trade mission, Optisys met with several aerospace companies and potential sales representatives that expressed a keen interest in them. Their success in southeast Asia also fostered new connections that led them to opportunities with European space agencies.

“While Asia is still on our radar, Europe is our beginning market,” said Opra. “We have been able to showcase who we are as a company and have had immense success with several trade shows.”

As a result of their successful trade shows, Optisys followed up on new leads and made key connections with European aerospace companies. They have plans to travel back to the region for additional face-to-face meetings in the upcoming year.

Looking back on their recent international growth, Opra comments, “Going international would have been much harder if it weren’t for resources like WTC Utah, U.S. Commercial Service and USTAR. There is so much to know about exporting and it’s great that we have experts in our state that are willing to help us accomplish our goals.”

WTC Utah offers several grant programs to help Utah companies expand their business into international markets. To learn more, and to sign up to be notified about 2018 grants, visit this page.

For companies interested in utilizing state-led trade missions to expand internationally, WTC Utah will also be coordinating trade missions to Mexico (April 2018) and Taiwan and South Korea (September 2018). To learn more or sign up for trade mission updates, visit our events page.