Mixed reality startup Volta has been awarded a £400,000 grant from government agency Innovate UK for its platform that lets artists create 3D graphics for projectors and screens that respond to audio.
The Innovate UK grant will be used by Volta for research and implementing “audience interaction features” for its live events software, such as remote user interaction and in-app purchases.
It will also go towards hiring behavioural scientists who will research why people go to concerts and the psychological implications of interactive experiences.
Volta deployed its technology last month at music festival Glastonbury. Its co-founder Mitchell Bayer-Goldman told UKTN at the time: “We are trying to make an incredibly powerful creative visual tool for a market that isn’t necessarily visually artistically driven but who recognise the necessity of having visual components to their brand and performance.”
Founded in 2019, the startup has attracted investment from high-profile angels, including the likes of Joel Zimmerman (Deadmau5) and Post Malone’s artist services company, Electric Feel Ventures.
Volta plans to raise a further $1.5m (£1.2m) ahead of a bigger Series A next year, with previous funding totalling $4m (£3.2m).
Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation, which recently awarded funding to WeWALK for its smart cane to help the visually impaired alongside the digital health coach app Holly Health.
Recently augmented reality startup KIT-AR raised £1.7m in seed funding for its production line tech.