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London, 05 November 2020: Foresight Group (“Foresight”) and Williams Advanced Engineering (“WAE”) are pleased to announce an investment of £1.05m into AudioScenic, which is developing immersive 3D audio technology for loudspeaker systems that will revolutionise the way users experience sound. The investment is the first from the new Foresight Williams Technology share class in the Foresight Solar & Technology VCT plc and will be shared with the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund.

The funding from the Foresight Williams Technology EIS and VCT funds is part of a £1.58m funding round alongside existing investor IP Group, which will enable the company to further commercialise its products and hire additional staff.

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 here 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 beaming separate sound waves to their left and right ears from a single, compact soundbar, creating 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 by utilising bulky headphones has so far proven challenging as most 3D loudspeaker systems confine the user to a pre-determined ‘sweet spot’ in a room. Audioscenic’s technology can be applied to consumer electronics, flat panel display systems and eventually automotive applications through a licensing model with third party hardware providers.

AudioSenic’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.

Commenting on the investment, Chris Wiles, Senior Investment Manager, at Foresight, said: “It has been a pleasure 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.” 

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.”

David Monteith, CEO, AudioScenic: “AudioScenic is changing the way users experience audio and we are delighted that Foresight Williams is supporting us on this mission. We have developed world leading 3D audio technology that is already starting to be used in consumer applications. This funding will help us build the team further and drive the adoption of our technology faster. We are excited to leverage FWT’s expertise and assistance to help us deliver our vision of personal audio reproduction systems into the automotive and simulator markets.”