Unit1 Studio, an end-to-end avatar concert producer, has raised £20 million in funding led by Balderton, with participation from Mercuri, Gilston Music and artist manager Paul McGuinness. The raise follows Unit1 completing the first ever relocation of an avatar concert production between venues.
Avatar concerts stage hyper-realistic digital performances of artists who can no longer tour, transporting audiences to legendary performances. ABBA Voyage proved audience appetite for the format, but the cost of developing and replicating comparable productions has kept it out of reach for the majority of artists. Unit1's technology removes those barriers, allowing shows to be developed at a fraction of the cost and replicated to any location, increasing the number of artists for whom an avatar concert becomes a commercial reality.
That breakthrough was proven by moving the KT Tunstall avatar showcase from its former Hammersmith location to a new purpose-built studio at Tileyard London, where Unit1 will showcase and develop its hyper-realistic avatar concerts. The shows are built to break the fourth wall between screen content and live experience, giving the TikTok and Netflix generation the concert experience of artists they discover from the 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond, while offering longtime fans a new way to connect with artists they have always loved.
Leading the business is CEO Barney Wragg, former CEO of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group, recently renamed LW Entertainment, who has previously held senior roles at AEG, EMI and Universal Music Group. He is joined by Creative Director Jonathan Butterell, best known for Everyone's Talking About Jamie, and Technical Director Pavle Mihajlovic, co-founder of video game studios Electric Saint and Flavourworks. John Kennedy, former CEO and Chairman of Universal Music UK and IFPI, joins as a non-executive director, and hyper-real avatar creators Greg Meeres Young (Planet of the Apes, Lord of the Rings) and Sefki Ibrahim (ABBA Voyage) have joined the team, strengthening Unit1's work in VFX and AI-enhanced CGI.
The funding combines an oversubscribed equity round with additional production financing, and will fuel Unit1's work creating and operating mixed reality avatar concerts while expanding the roster of shows currently in development.
Unit1 is, and will always be, about expanding the connection between fan and artist regardless of time or geography. ABBA Voyage proved audiences love avatar concerts but the development and relocation costs have meant the opportunity of avatar concerts is not being realised. Our ability to develop these shows at a fraction of the cost and replicate them to any location finally makes these shows a commercial reality. The combination of our technology, new financing and our growing team, means we can develop shows for artists and fans worldwide.
Until now, avatar concerts have been locked behind the economics of ABBA Voyage - a one-off, one-location proposition. Unit1's innovative new technology will fundamentally change that, opening up the genre to a whole generation of legacy artists. Barney is hugely respected in the industry and has managed to solve a structural problem that everyone knew existed but nobody had cracked. As a founder, Barney brings a unique blend of creative vision and commercial nous to every project that he sets his mind to, and having followed his journey for many years I couldn't be more delighted to formally partner for the next chapter of Unit1.
