US-based NexTech, the first publicly traded ‘pure-play’ AR company, has acquired virtual events webcaster Jolokia.com. The new combination is set to roll out AR conferences.

Jolokia’s customers include, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Toyota, Viacom, Polycom and its platform generated US$1m 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 US$1.00 per share.

The terms included a 12-month earn-out if the platform generates up to $4m.

Pete Mastin, CEO of Jolokia commented, “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 the 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 continues, “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 and development products that will gamify the learning experience in a way that has not been seen before.”

Evan Gappelberg , CEO of NexTech added, “We are thrilled to close on this acquisition and welcome the Jolokia team of 10 to NexTech. “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 the video training, virtual conferences or webinars provide us with competitive differentiation and very timely addition to our AR omnichannel offerings. 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.”

NexTech says it has developed a method to seamlessly integrate 3D photorealistic holograms of people and products to these virtual events through its ARitize App.