London-based Unit1 Studio has raised £20 million (€23.3 million) in new financing to expand its avatar concert technology and increase the number of productions it has in development. The financing combines an oversubscribed equity round led by Balderton Capital with additional production funding, while existing investors Mercuri, Gilston Music, and music executive Paul McGuinness also participated. The company aims to make immersive avatar concerts easier and more economical to develop, relocate, and operate across multiple venues.
Expanding the Avatar Concert Model
Unit1 Studio is building technology designed to move avatar concerts beyond the high-cost, single-location model associated with large-scale productions such as ABBA Voyage. Its approach is intended to reduce the technical and financial barriers involved in creating mixed-reality shows, allowing productions to be replicated in different markets without requiring extensive redevelopment. The company believes this could make avatar concerts commercially viable for a wider range of artists and promoters.
Technology Designed for Faster Deployment
The funding announcement follows Unit1 Studio’s relocation of its KT Tunstall avatar demo-concert from Brompton Technology’s testing facility in Gunnersbury, west London, to a permanent studio at Tileyard London. Unit1 said the move was completed in four days, highlighting what it describes as a more flexible production model for immersive live entertainment. By simplifying how shows are transferred between venues, the company is targeting one of the main cost and operational challenges facing avatar-based concert formats.
Building a Broader Live Entertainment Platform
Unit1’s productions combine visual effects, CGI, mixed-reality technology, and live performance elements to recreate concert experiences featuring artists who may no longer tour or whose performances are difficult for audiences to access. The company is positioning the format as a way to connect both long-standing fans and younger audiences with artists across different eras and geographies. Its longer-term goal is to make these productions adaptable in a similar way to touring theater shows, allowing the same concept to operate in several cities.
Leadership and Creative Team
Unit1 Studio is led by founder and CEO Barney Wragg, whose previous roles include work with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group, AEG, EMI, and Universal Music Group. The leadership team also includes Creative Director Jonathan Butterell and Technical Director Pavle Mihajlovic, alongside specialists in digital character creation and immersive production. The company has further expanded its industry experience with the appointment of former Universal Music UK and IFPI executive John Kennedy as a non-executive director.
Investor Backing and Growth Plans
Balderton Capital led the equity portion of the financing, with General Partner Daniel Waterhouse describing Unit1’s technology as a potential way to unlock avatar concerts for more artists. The fresh capital will support the development and operation of the company’s growing pipeline of productions, although Unit1 has not yet disclosed the artists involved. The company said future projects will be announced once ticket sales begin, as it works to convert its production technology into a scalable commercial model.
Unit1 Studio’s £20 million financing gives the company additional resources to test whether avatar concerts can become a repeatable format rather than a one-off spectacle tied to a single venue. Its strategy centers on lowering development and relocation costs while making productions easier to reproduce across multiple locations. If the model proves commercially sustainable, Unit1 could help broaden the use of mixed-reality concerts across the global live entertainment industry.