Newcastle-based Aircards, the global immersive media studio, said it has secured a £3 million growth capital investment from regional private equity firm Foresight Group.
Euan Jarvie, former CEO of Dentsu UK&I, will join Aircards as executive chair.
“The funding will power the international expansion of Aircards’ multi-faceted offering, bringing its blend of immersive content, interactive displays, and analytics platform to brands and consumers worldwide,” said Aircards.
“Since launching in 2020, Aircards has built a global reputation in the delivery of premium immersive campaigns for enterprise brands including Nike, L’Oréal, Diageo, Unilever, Louis Vuitton and Red Bull.
“The studio’s work spans AR, VR, mixed reality, CGI and AI-driven experiences with activations live in major cities, flagship retail, stadiums and cultural events worldwide. This investment will accelerate three core growth pillars across Production Studio, Invisionary interactive screens and Metalitix.
“Expanding in-house fabrication to design and build the physical environments that bring immersive experiences into the real world.
“From LED tunnels and interactive pop-ups to AR-enabled magic mirrors and immersive shared spaces, Aircards can now deliver fully integrated, digital-plus-physical activations from concept to deployment, faster, with more creative control and built for scale.
“Aircards’ next-generation interactive display product line, led by the LUX-75, an AI and AR-powered touchscreen DOOH display built for high-traffic spaces such as retail, airports, events and malls.
“The LUX-75 combines immersive media, real-time analytics, gamified experiences, virtual try-ons and frictionless commerce, turning public screens into powerful engagement and revenue engines.
“Aircards’ proprietary spatial analytics platform, giving enterprise clients deep-level insight into how audiences explore and interact within 3D, AR and mixed reality environments. From heatmaps to gaze tracking and session playback, Metalitix turns engagement into measurable, actionable data.
“To support this next phase, Euan Jarvie, former CEO of Dentsu UK&I and ex-president of EMEA IRI, joins Aircards as Executive Chair, bringing deep expertise in global media, technology, and scaling creative businesses.”
Aircards Founder Michael Watson said: “We are delighted to have secured the investment from Foresight, which marks a significant milestone in Aircards’ journey. Their support will enable us to accelerate our growth strategy, broaden our capabilities, and unlock new opportunities in the rapidly expanding immersive technology market.”
Jordan Lavender, Senior Investment Manager at Foresight Group, said: “Aircards has demonstrated strong growth since inception five years ago and Foresight is excited to support the highly talented team on their next phase of growth. The North East is home to many ambitious and innovative SMEs, and this investment marks a meaningful step in Foresight’s ongoing commitment to the region.”