Miami Herald - Experts at FundingPost.com upbeat about start-ups

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Posted on Mon, June 2, 2003

In plain English, Boca firm's off to a flying start
BEA GARCIA

While only 8 percent of the world's population speaks English, it's the official language of the aviation industry. For Virtual Languages, a Boca Raton firm founded in 1992 to provide businesses online English-language instruction, the aviation industry has become a new, less-crowded niche.

And, so far, it has paid off for the small company.

Virtual Languages has contracts to provide English-language training to Jeppesen, the world's largest provider of flight information, which is owned by Boeing, the giant aircraft manufacturer, and to the Pan Am International Flight Academy. Pan Am's facility in Fort Pierce will be using Virtual Languages' materials.

The need for pilots, air-traffic controllers and flight attendants to have a basic knowledge of English is crucial. Now it's also an international requirement. In March, the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency, in hopes of improving air safety, adopted a set of standards for English use in air traffic control communications.

Jean Giles Ordóñez, Virtual Languages' president and founder, says the company has developed its expertise in aviation by hiring experts in fields like physics, meteorology and radio communications.

Virtual Languages' curriculum is used online and can be supplemented with a teacher in a classroom setting. Jeppesen's company trainers will be traveling to four locations in China to provide instruction in a more traditional setting.

Ordóñez was one of two entrepreneurs who made brief presentations at a FundingPost.com breakfast in Fort Lauderdale last month. The event brought together owners of young companies and potential investors.

She has since hired South Beach Capital in Miami to help the company raise $1 million to $2 million in equity. Ordóñez says that, with the contracts from Jeppesen and Pan Am International, the company needs the funds for expansion.

Until now, the privately held company has been funded by friends and family.

To register for the next Florida Venture Capital Breakfast on Wed. September 10th in Fort Lauderdale, please click here:
http://www.fundingpost.com/breakfast/reg1.asp?event=13&refer=2vweb-efl2