AmazeVR wants to scale its virtual concert platform with $17M funding

A Los Angeles-based virtual concert platform said Tuesday it has raised $17 million in funding.

The entertainment industry was affected by the coronaviruses. During the Pandemic, many music artists had to cancel or delay their live shows. Virtual or online concerts have been used to compensate for canceled events. Virtual shows are going to take over the entertainment industry because of their popularity among artists and fans.

Mirae Asset Capital was the lead in the Series B round along with returning backers. The new strategic investors in the latest round are Korean entertainment giants.

The virtual reality entertainment industry is growing quickly, and we believe that music and gaming are two of the most promising sectors for the future.

The financing will be used to expand partnerships with artists and their management agencies, labels and publishers, according to Steve Lee. He said that it is in talks with potential partners to work with top artists in the US.

The startup is preparing virtual concerts and a music metaverse service that would be available across all major virtual reality app stores and work with next- generation headsets such as the Meta Quest Pro and Apple's own rumored virtual reality headset.

In July, the startup announced a joint venture with SM Entertainment. The companies plan to open a studio in South Korea in the near future.

Lee said that they are preparing to produce virtual concerts with SM Entertainment artists and expand to other K-pop companies. The company plans to hire more artificial intelligence engineers, Unreal Engine engineers, and visual effects artists to continue the advancement of its technology.

The goal of the company is to bring more people into the world of virtual reality.

The team traveled to 15 U.S. cities for their first virtual concert, Enter Thee Hottieverse, a tour with rap icon Megan Thee Stallion. According to Lee, the company had a 75% attendance rate for its concerts, which is 4.3 times the theater's averageOccupancy rate. The ticket prices were 2.5 times more expensive than the average movie theater ticket price.

A spokesman for the company said that they plan to convert concerts and music TV shows to virtual reality to maximize their content value and business opportunities.

Earlier this year, the company secured 15 million dollars. The startup has raised approximately $47 million. A startup with offices in Los Angeles and South Korea now has 62 members.

Are virtual concerts here to stay?