AmazeVR raises $15m for virtual reality concerts
LA-based startup AmazeVR has closed a US$15 million round of funding to support its vision for virtual reality concerts.
Funding was provided by Partners Investment, Smilegate Investment, Quantum Ventures Korea, ABC Partners, Everrich Group, and GS Futures – the corporate venture capital arm of GS Group, one of the largest Korean conglomerates.
In addition to these investors, AmazeVR has been backed by several other major investors: Timewise Investment, venture capital arm of CJ Group; LG Technology Ventures; Mirae Asset Capital; Mirae Asset Venture Investment; Murex Partners; Dunamu Partners; Base Investment; and We Ventures.
According to the company, the bridge funding was oversubscribed within three weeks. It includes $9.5m in previous bridge financing and brings the company’s total raise to $30.8m.
“This funding allows us to keep hiring aggressively,” says AmazeVR co-CEO Ernest Lee. “In 2021, we tripled our team in Hollywood and Seoul. We’ve been able to attract top talent from the industries we touch including creatives who have worked with artists such as Kanye and Cardi B; a former marketing director at Live Nation; a film buyer for Regal/Cinemark; and an AI engineer from NVIDIA.
“This puts us in an ideal position to take full advantage of VR and the metaverse’s growing popularity”
“This puts us in an ideal position to take full advantage of VR and the metaverse’s growing popularity, as we deliver breathtaking VR concerts from major artists, first to theatres, then to homes worldwide.”
AmazeVR’s first-ever VR concert tour is taking place in spring with three-time Grammy winner Megan Thee Stallion, it was announced last August.
The ‘one-of-a-kind’ experience will be developed for cinemas outfitted with haptic motion chairs and VR headsets, and will also be available via a ‘music metaverse service’ using at-home VR headsets.
“You really need to experience our VR concerts to get a full grasp of how impactful they are. VR can finally blow all 2D experiences out of the water. Thanks to our tech, we can evoke a real sense of presence you can’t get from a screen, the feeling that your favorite artist is right there, face to face with you,” explains Lee.
“This opens up a new dimension for music, one of the first new ways for artists and fans to connect since recordings appeared. We’re thrilled that investors are grasping this and are supporting us as we innovate and grow.”
AmazeVR is planning to raise a Series B in early 2022.
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