dot.LA Summit: The Concerts of the Future Will Be Hybrid, Says Wave Co-Founder

Joshua Letona

Joshua Letona is dot.LA's Engagement Fellow. A Southern California journalist with a passion for art and entertainment, he built his experience at his college news publication and EdSource while being an amateur filmmaker. He enjoys movies and comics, especially if "Star Wars" is in the title. If Joshua could be anywhere, it would be in an old movie theater seat in Hollywood.

dot.LA Summit: The Concerts of the Future Will Be Hybrid, Says Wave Co-Founder

As the pandemic shut down, cancelled and delayed events people had been looking forward to, Wave co-founder and CEO Adam Arrigo saw an opportunity.


His company was founded in 2016 at a time when brands like Oculus and PlayStation were looking to bring virtual reality into the mainstream. Not knowing how ready people would be, Arrigo and his team were conservative with the company's money.

"We basically didn't spend any money because we weren't sure how quickly people were going to strap these things to their heads… And we were kind of right because VR sort of petered out," said Arrigo.

Instead, the company worked on something that he characterizes as a "metaphor for a live performance." Arrigo, a game designer and a musician, realized the music industry needed a tech boost to help keep artists connected with their fans during the pandemic.

Wave provided artists the ability to perform as virtual avatars in 3D spaces and allow fans at home to strap on their headsets and be immersed in a concert.

The company hit a breakthrough when it hosted a show with violinist Lindsey Stirling, which garnered an audience of 2,000 using VR and 398,000 using either game controllers or watching on YouTube.

"Now that this thing is sort of starting to catch on, the truth is that we're not [...] trying to replicate or replace live events," said Arrigo. Instead, he said the experience is meant to be more additive to a live tour.

Wave raised a lot of funding over the pandemic, getting opportunities to work with artists like The Weeknd and Doja Cat.

The startup experimented with allowing fans to send musicians virtual gifts. It proved popular among fans.

"People just loved being able to interject something into a show that they couldn't do at a real concert," said Arrigo.

With popular video games such as Fortnite hosting concerts and the concept of the metaverse gaining traction, Arrigo thinks that live performances will become more like hybrid experiences.

"Concerts will probably become something where, if you're lucky enough to go to the physical version, that's going to be more of a VIP experience. But I think one of the main modalities of experiencing live music, it's going to become virtual," said Arrigo.

He added, "It's just because like the generation that's growing up in Roblox and Minecraft, you know, this is the way they're experiencing music."

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LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech ‘Moves’: Mapp Gains New CPO and CTO, Prodoscore Taps Boeing Exec
LA Tech ‘Moves’:

“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.

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This Week in ‘Raises’: GITAI Lands $30M, Steno Gains $15M

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Raises
Image by Joshua Letona

A local space robotics startup raised fresh funding to expand the flight model manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and increase employment, while a remote litigation platform raised more funding to continue growing its footprint in new markets across the country, develop service channels for its clients and continue expanding its tech team.

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Gitai Raises $30 Million to Expand Manufacturing Footprint in Los Angeles

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Gitai Raises $30 Million to Expand Manufacturing Footprint in Los Angeles
\u200bPhoto: Gitai

Space robotics company Gitai raised a $30 million Series B extension this week, bringing the total value of the round to roughly $47 million.

The funding will be used to further develop Gitai’s suite of space robots as well as build out its manufacturing footprint in Torrance. Previously Gitai announced it raised a $17.1 million Series B in March 2021; this additional raise is still part of that round.

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