NexTech AR Solutions (NexTech), an augmented reality (AR) solutions provider for the immersive learning and e-commerce space, recently announced an update about its acquisition of Jolokia; a software company specialising in webcasting, virtual events and live streaming. Jolokia has a notable list of prominent clients including Johnson & Johnson, Viacom, Merck, Toyota, and Polycom. NexTech reported that the Jolokia platform has accumulated USD 1 million in revenues from SaaS offerings in 2019.
The Jolokia platform was acquired as an all-stock purchase, with the company’s shareholders receiving the initial payment of 1 million NexTech AR Solutions common shares, in the form of restricted stock with a USD 1.00 per share estimated price. The terms of the acquisition included a 12-month earn-out clause, which will come into effect if the Jolokia platform produces additional revenue of up to USD 4 million. In such a case, NexTech AR can issue restricted stock worth USD 4 million.
Jolokia CEO Pete Mastin stated that the company’s Inferno platform, integrated with NexTech AR holograms, is well-equipped to take the mantle of the most sophisticated digital video-based learning and event management platform out there. The amalgamation of live broadcasting, holograms, and artificial intelligence (AI) is enabling corporations to accelerate the delivery of engaging immersive experiences without geographical restrictions. According to Mastin, the merger with NexTech AR is an exciting prospect as Inferno can be combined with the impressive technology offerings available at NexTech. He said that technological collaboration will lead to the creation of innovative learning and development products to spearhead the domain of gamified learning experiences.
Elaborating further about the prospects created through the collaboration, Mark Pace, the Co-Founder and CTO of Jolokia, expressed his interest in combining AR with the company’s advanced learning platform. According to Pace, the company had earlier envisioned a platform for letting learners adapt from interactive video content to augmented reality and virtual reality. Technology stalwarts including Google and Apple are set to release VR glasses shortly, signalling that the future of learning platforms will be centred around immersive technologies. He reiterated that the combination of technology provided by both NexTech AR and Jolokia is helping the company become a power player in the immersive learning space.
Evan Gappelberg, NexTech CEO, expressed that the company’s workforce is enthusiastic about the acquisition and bringing in ten Jolokia team members. He emphasised that Jolokia possessed a feature-rich SaaS platform to facilitate product training and education, which can be accentuated with AR to generate a unique offering for virtual events.
According to Gappelberg, the three-dimensional AR experience can be described as a training video or participating in a virtual conference and taking what they see on the screen to transfer into the environs of a room. Gappelberg said that augmented reality integration into video training, webinars, and conferences gives NexTech AR a competitive edge. He also highlighted that the additions of the Jolokia offerings have contributed to enhancing the omnichannel AR offerings of NexTech.
