Audioscenic closes £1.5m funding round to further develop 3D audio technology

University of Southampton spin-out developing technology that revolutionises how users experience audio.

New investors Foresight Group and Williams Advanced Engineering contribute £1.05m alongside a further £0.525m from existing investors IP Group

Audioscenic is pleased to announce it has secured an investment of £1.05m from Foresight Group and Williams Advanced Engineering in a round strongly supported by existing investor IP Group. The company, which is developing immersive 3D audio technology for loudspeaker systems that will revolutionise the way users experience sound, will use the funding to hire additional technical and commercial staff to both further develop and expand its offering as well as launching its technology with select customers.

Audioscenic was spun out of the Institute of Sound and Vibrational Research (ISVR) at the University of Southampton in 2017. The company’s technology was co-developed by Dr. Marcos Simón (Chief Technology Officer) under the supervision of Chief Scientific Officer, Prof. Filippo Fazi, a world leading expert in 3D audio theory and algorithms. Dr. Simón and Prof. Fazi developed a method of monitoring the location of a listener’s head and then beaming separate sound waves to their left and right ears from a single, compact soundbar to create an immersive 3D audio experience far beyond what conventional surround sound speaker systems offer.

3D sound formats are increasingly being adopted by content providers including Netflix, Amazon and BT Sport. However, replicating the immersive sound experience in consumer hardware other than through the use of bulky headphones has so far proven challenging as most 3D loudspeaker systems unnaturally confine the user to a pre-determined ‘sweet spot’ in a room which limits their appeal. Audioscenic’s adaptive technology removes this sweet spot and can be applied to consumer electronics, flat panel display systems and automotive applications.

Audioscenic’s management team, which combines academic expertise with commercial leadership, also includes industry veteran and serial entrepreneur, David Monteith, who joined the company as CEO in 2019.

David Monteith, Audioscenic CEO said:

“Audioscenic is changing the way we experience audio and we are delighted that Foresight Williams is now supporting us on this mission and that IP Group is continuing its excellent support. We have developed world leading 3D audio technology that we have already started applying to consumer applications; this funding will help us build the team further and drive the adoption of our technology faster. We are excited to leverage FWTs expertise and assistance to help us deliver our vision of personal audio reproduction systems into the Automotive and Simulator markets.”

Co-Founder and Audioscenic CTO Marcos Simón says:

“We are double proud that we have been able to raise investment in these current difficult times and we will continue challenging the state of the art in audio reproduction and enhance the way people consume loudspeaker audio. With these funds we aim to grow our team further, increasing our expertise in adaptive audio and computer vision and making the adoption of our technology a reality. The years to come are exciting, and this investment is making it possible, so we are very thankful to Foresight Williams and to IP Group for believing in our proposition”

Commenting on the investment, Chris Wiles, Senior Investment Manager at Foresight, said:

“It has been a delight working with the Audioscenic team and we are extremely excited to see how their innovative technology will unlock the full potential of 3D audio content in loudspeaker applications“

Lee Thornton, Investment Director at IP Group, said:

“Having made excellent progress towards commercialising their spatial audio technology since IP Group first invested in 2019, we are delighted to continue supporting the company with additional capital in its latest fundraise and look forward to seeing a first product hitting the shelves in 2021. With an excellent team and strongly differentiated technology, we firmly believe the company has a central role to play in a wide variety of next generation audio systems.”

Matthew Burke, Head of Technology Ventures, Williams Advanced Engineering, adds

“Audioscenic’s 3D audio loudspeaker technology is truly unique with transformative potential, and we look forward to supporting the commercialisation of this platform technology in applications such as immersive driver simulators.”