AmazeVR announces $15 million in funding

West Hollywood’s AmazeVR has raised $15 million in funding to support its work on virtual reality concerts.

The company is rolling out its first VR concert tour featuring Megan Thee Stallion this spring in AMC Theatres across the country. The tour springs from years of research and development that resulted in proprietary 9K cameras and in software that can automate complex Unreal Engine-based visual effects and run more than 100 headsets at a time. Using this technology, the company plans to scale its content creation, releasing new VR concert experiences weekly by 2024 to both in-theater and at-home viewers.

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.

“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, as we deliver breathtaking VR concerts from major artists, first to theaters, then to homes worldwide.”

“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.”