London company Unit1 Studio, which builds concerts around digital avatars of real musicians, has raised $20 million. Balderton Capital led an oversubscribed equity round, and the total also includes production money for shows still in development; the company has not said how the two parts divide.
Alongside the money, Unit1 says it has done something new for the format: it picked up its finished KT Tunstall avatar showcase, screens and all, and reinstalled it in a purpose-built studio at Tileyard London in King's Cross. The relocation took four days including recalibration. Earlier hologram tours have travelled, but Unit1's claim is that it moved a complete production rather than rebuilding it.
Founder and chief executive Barney Wragg, a former head of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group, argues that ABBA Voyage proved the demand but that its costs keep avatar shows out of reach for most acts. Balderton partner Daniel Waterhouse framed the bet the same way, pitching cheaper, portable shows at a generation of legacy artists. Existing backers Mercuri, Gilston Music and former U2 manager Paul McGuinness joined the round.
The company has also added former Universal Music UK and IFPI chief John Kennedy to its board as a non-executive director, and hired avatar artists Greg Meeres Young and Sefki Ibrahim, the latter a veteran of ABBA Voyage. The Tunstall showcase first appeared at Unit1's launch in October 2025, tied to a reissue of her debut album.
The contrast Unit1 is drawing is with projects like Pophouse's planned KISS avatar show, reported at around $200 million, now slated for Las Vegas in 2028 and needing its own venue. Unit1 says its approach can take shows to any location for a fraction of that.
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