April 30, 2020 – NexTech AR Solutions (NexTech) a provider of augmented reality solutions for eCommerce and AR learning applications, has today announced that it has acquired virtual events, remote video training, live streaming software company, Jolokia; whose customers include, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Toyota, Viacom, Polycom and others. According to NexTech, the Jolokia platform generated USD $1 million in SaaS revenue for 2019.
The transaction was an all stock purchase with an initial payment to Jolokia shareholders of 1 million common shares of NexTech AR Solutions in restricted stock at a deemed price of USD $1.00 USD per share. The terms included a 12 month earn out, if the platform generates up to USD $4 million in additional revenue, an additional USD $4 million in restricted stock can be issued.
Pete Mastin, CEO of Jolokia said: “With the integration of NexTech’s augmented reality holograms, our Inferno platform is well positioned as the most advanced event management and digital video learning platform in market today. Combining live broadcasting with interactive video, artificial intelligence and holograms, corporations are now able to rapidly deliver immersive, engaging learning experiences anywhere.” He continued, “We are very excited to merge with NexTech AR as we believe the combination of our Inferno Platform with NexTech’s formidable tech stack will create a new generation of learning & development products that will gamify the learning experience in a way that has not been seen before.”
Commenting further, Jolokia’s CTO & Co-Founder, Mark Pace added: “I am extremely enthusiastic about participating in the melding of Augmented reality with our Inferno advanced learning platform. It has always been a vision of ours to build a platform that allowed learners to rapidly move from maximal engagement via interactive video and gamification of video learning content – to experiential learning through Augmented reality and ultimately virtual reality. With Apple, Google (and others) releasing VR glasses in the next 12 months – we know that the next generation of learning platforms has to include these technologies – and the combination of our technology stack with NexTech AR’s puts us in the position to be a dominant player in the space.”
Evan Gappelberg, CEO of NexTech commented: “We are thrilled to close on this acquisition and welcome the Jolokia team of 10 to NexTech. Jolokia has built an impressive SaaS platform for education and product training which when combined with AR creates a truly unique and industry leading virtual events product offering.”
Gappelberg continued, “Imagine watching a training video, or going to a virtual conference or webinar and being able to take what you are seeing on screen and put it in the room with you as a 3D/AR volumetric experience. The integration of AR in video training, virtual conferences or webinars provide us with a competitive differentiation and a very timely addition to our AR omni-channel offerings.”
As a result of the ongoing global coronavirus outbreak, many corporate meetings and events have been going virtual through online collaboration and web conferencing tools. As a result, demand for remote training is surging, and NexTech expects this will drive awareness and adoption of the company’s video conferencing, live streaming and remote training platform, which includes integrated AR features. NexTech has developed its platform to seamlessly integrate 3D photo realistic holograms of people and products to these virtual events through it’s ARitize App.
Gappelberg added: “With the spread of the Coronavirus all governments, Learning Institutions and Corporations are forcing a huge paradigm shift in society to remote work, training and learning, creating what we believe will be strong demand for this type of product offering.”
Video credit: NexTech AR Solutions/Vimeo
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Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.