WHY EVERY START-UP SHOULD
- AWE provides the perfect XR ecosystem in which start-ups can learn where the latest business opportunities are.
- The winner of the ‘Start-up To Watch’ award at AWE EU 2023 will receive an up to $200k investment from Start-up Chris. Learn more.
- Connect with new customers and potential investors who are all looking for the next best thing in XR.
- Grow your brand and user-base by attending AWE's leading global AR/VR conferences and events.
- Link with customers, investors, press and other founders via AWE's always-on community portal, awe.live.
- Utilize AWE's growing resource library where you can find legal, partner, hiring and other best-practice advice.
Start your journey towards scaling your business and connecting with potential investors at AWE
AWE provides an unparalleled opportunity and welcoming space for rising augmented and virtual reality start-ups, as well as for start-ups that are creating enabling technologies for spatial computing (e.g. AI, haptics, lenses, tracking, waveguides and more). By joining the AWE community, you’ll benefit from a wide-reaching network of XR professionals and companies, all with an appetite for discovering what your start-up has to offer the industry.
Showcase your start-up in front of thousands of XR industry professionals at AWE events
Every year, AWE puts on the leading conference for showcasing the best in augmented and virtual reality technology, with exhibitors and speakers from companies like Epic Games, Google, Intel, Lenovo, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Snap, Unity, and hundreds more. However, AWE’s conferences are not just for the tech industry giants. There is expo floor space dedicated entirely to new start-ups, offering small teams and individuals a platform on which they can showcase their innovative XR solutions. AWE’s conferences also host the Auggie Awards, the most recognized AR & VR industry awards, giving start-ups a chance to win the title of “Start-up to Watch” and putting your company name and solution on display in front of thousands of attendees.
AWE in-person events give founders and start-ups a chance to rub shoulders with some of the largest and most influential companies in the AR/VR industry. Plus, with active investors on the lookout for the next unicorn in immersive tech, Fortune 1000 buyers and end users looking for answers to critical business problems, and the presence of top press, AWE’s in-person events and conferences are the best place for start-ups to raise funds, sell solutions, find strategic partners, and launch new products.
AWE even has a carefully curated track dedicated entirely to start-ups, which covers topics such as finding funding in the Metaverse and how to gauge the XR market, as well as AWE’s start-up Pitch Competition, wherein 10 to 15 start-ups pitch to a panel of judges made up of industry executives and venture capitalists for a chance to be named AWE's "Start-up to Watch". The winner gets announced on the main stage at the AWE USA event’s Auggie Awards ceremony.
There are plenty of reasons to submit your start-up for consideration in the Start-Up Pitch competition at AWE EU, and winning a prestigious Auggie Award is just one motivation to do so. Plus, this year’s winner of the 'Start-up to Watch' title at AWE EU 2023 will receive an up to $200,000 investment from Start-up Chris (pending due diligence). Learn more about the 2023 Start-up to Watch competition at AWE EU here. Submissions for startup pitches are open until September 18, 2023.
Gain traction for your AR/VR start-up on awe.live and connect with potential customers and investors
If attending face-to-face conferences is not always feasible, then AWE offers its awe.live platform, an always-on XR community hub. Through awe.live, start-ups can showcase their ideas to potential end users, network with professionals and experts across the fields of augmented, virtual and mixed reality, as well as canvas solutions to investors with an aim of getting funding.
For founders and anyone working as part of a start-up team, you can use awe.live to view profiles of companies and individuals that you are interested in approaching, enabling you to get a foot in the door with potential future customers and partners. You can also create your own virtual booth for your start-up and increase exposure for your XR product or solution, putting it in front of potentially thousands of other members of the AWE community.
All start-ups have to be resourceful - let AWE help you out
As well as its in-person events and awe.live portal, the AWE program caters to start-ups by offering legal, partner, hiring and other best-practice advice, pitching opportunities, and exclusive start-up-investor networking, helping you on a path to securing potential funding from XR investors and venture capitalists.
Other resources that AWE provides for start-ups in the XR community include:
AWE’s Fundraising 101 workshop through the AWE Academy, as well as other online live courses from some of the most experienced instructors in the XR industry covering a range of topics relating to scaling your start-up, discovering funding options, and closing investments from venture capitalists;
Meetups in the form of the AWE Nite series where you can connect with fellow XR professionals and further showcase your start-up’s unique XR solution to an attentive audience;
YouTube videos and playlists covering a variety of topics geared directly towards start-ups and founders from AWE’s library of talks and panel discussions from its live and virtual events;
A vast pool of knowledge through carefully curated content in the form of blog posts, newsletters and podcasts created by industry-leading experts and contributors.
Whether you’re a start-up looking to learn about the XR industry’s appetite for your product, or you want to connect with businesses, end-users and investors to further promote your solution, AWE is the ideal place to help you grow your company and network with those working at all levels across the AR/VR industry.