British entertainment technology company Unit1 has raised $20m, equivalent to roughly £15m, to develop its model for live concerts built around realistic digital versions of performers.
The funding round includes backing from Balderton Capital and former U2 manager Paul McGuinness, according to reporting published over the weekend. Unit1 plans to use the capital for research and development as well as the licensing arrangements required to bring artists and music catalogues into future productions.
The London company, founded by entertainment executive Barney Wragg, is developing shows that combine digital performers with live musicians, lighting, sound, and large LED displays. Its model is intended to create touring productions around artists who are no longer performing regularly without requiring a venue built exclusively around a single residency.
Unit1 has been working with Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall as an artist ambassador and test case for the technology. Its approach uses performance capture, archival reference material, and high-resolution digital production to construct a virtual artist within a live stage environment.
The concept enters an entertainment market reshaped by the commercial success of large-scale digital and hybrid productions. ABBA Voyage demonstrated that an avatar-led show can sustain demand when developed around a dedicated venue, substantial production investment, and control of the underlying music and likeness rights.
Unit1 is pursuing a different cost structure. Its proposition is based on creating productions that can use conventional venues and tour between locations, potentially spreading development costs across a larger number of performances without requiring a purpose-built home.
Licensing therefore sits at the centre of the model. A digital concert built around an established performer requires rights covering music, recordings, performance, likeness, and potentially archival material. Where an artist is no longer alive or no longer performing, estates and other rights holders become central commercial partners.
The technology also sits within a substantial UK live-music economy. UK Music reported that the wider music industry generated £8bn in gross value added in 2024 and supported 220,000 full-time-equivalent jobs. Separate figures published this summer put spending by music tourists at a record £11.2bn during 2025, supported by major concerts and festivals across the country.
Those economics have increased interest in formats capable of extending the commercial life of established catalogues. Music owners already monetise recordings through streaming, film, advertising, games, and social platforms. Digital live performance adds another potential channel but requires much larger production systems and a closer relationship with audiences.
There are also major operational differences between producing a convincing digital sequence and running a repeatable live show. Venue specifications, LED processing, sound design, lighting, touring logistics, performer synchronisation, and software reliability all form part of the same system. Unit1’s listed production partners span several of those disciplines.
The company will also have to navigate questions around consent and authenticity that have become more prominent as generative artificial intelligence and digital replicas become more capable. Unit1’s model is based on licensed collaboration with artists and estates rather than unauthorised simulations, but commercial success will depend partly on whether audiences accept the digital performance as an extension of the artist’s work.
The investment case rests on converting an expensive one-off production format into a repeatable platform. If digital concerts can tour through existing venues, the addressable market could extend beyond the small number of acts capable of supporting permanent, purpose-built residencies.
The capital requirement remains substantial. High-quality capture, digital asset creation, live-stage engineering, and licensing all have to be funded before ticket revenue is generated. Production selection will therefore matter: highly recognisable artists may bring stronger demand but also more complex and expensive rights arrangements.
Unit1’s $20m round gives it additional resources to test whether those economics can scale. The next phase will depend on the artists it signs, the rights structures it secures, and whether its touring format can deliver the visual quality associated with leading avatar productions without reproducing their fixed venue costs.
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