Eyellusion, a startup focused on hologram concerts featuring digital recreations of certain deceased music artists, has raised a $2 million seed round from Thomas Dolan.
Thomas Dolan, currently on the boards of Madison Square Garden and AMC Networks, will also serve in an ongoing advisory role for Eyellusion.
Eyellusion will use the funds to help it move forward with planned world tours that feature holograms of two deceased artists – Frank Zappa and Ronnie James Dio – and other projects that include “A-list acts” to be announced later.
The funding also comes about five months after Eyellusion wrapped up the first leg of its “DIO Returns” tour, which played ten dates in seven countries over 18 days. Eyellusion expects to return for a world tour starting in early 2019.
Eyellusion noted that it’s in production on the “Bizarre World of Frank Zappa” tour that is partly based on never-before-seen performance footage of the musician from the early 1970s alongside former Zappa players performing live on-stage.
Eyellusion said its holograms and live productions are supported by a team of live music and special effects veterans, including Ahmet Zappa, its EVP of business development, Wendy Dio and veteran rock manager Todd Singerman ,who leads industry relations, and Kenny Aronoff, a world-renowned drummer, who supports technical live production efforts.
“The Eyellusion team is incredibly talented, bringing a combination of unique skillsets and experience across music, touring and digital effects,” Dolan, said in a statement. “I have been evaluating opportunities in this space for some time and believe Eyellusion has the best expertise and production chops for successful pursuit of this growing opportunity. I can’t wait for the team to share the new shows they’re creating with live music fans everywhere, making history along the way.”
