What AWE (Augmented World Expo) does

AWE (Augmented World Expo) is a privately held event and community platform company that produces the world's largest annual conference series for the XR (extended reality) and spatial computing industry. Founded in 2010 and headquartered as AWE XR, LLC in Beaverton, Oregon, the company operates three flagship annual conferences — AWE USA in Long Beach, California; UnitedXR Europe in Brussels, Belgium; and AWE Asia in Shanghai, China — alongside year-round AWE Nites community meetups held globally.

The company's product portfolio extends beyond conferences into a modular ecosystem of supporting programs: the AWE Playground (a 20,000 sqft curated immersive demo experience), Auggie Awards (industry recognition), XR Hall of Fame (pioneer recognition), Startup Pitch Competition (investor-startup matching), Art Festival (immersive art showcase), Academic and Research Posters program, and vertical-specific tracks including Enterprise VIP, Government Program, Builders Program, Investors Program, LBE Zone, and Gaming Hub. The underlying technology stack comprises the awexr.com marketing website, events.awexr.com registration platform, the Weekly Spatial email newsletter, and a YouTube archive of 200+ recorded talks.

AWE's business model is event-driven and diversified across three primary revenue streams: attendee ticket sales (one-time, tiered with Early Bird and Super Early Bird pricing), sponsorship and exhibitor booth fees on the 150,000+ sqft expo floor, and recurring corporate partnership/Enterprise VIP programs. Go-to-market targets seven distinct segments — enterprise end users, developers, creators, startups, investors, government, and academia — with a multi-channel marketing mix spanning owned content (blog, YouTube, newsletter), organic social (Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram, Bluesky, WhatsApp), and the Road to VR Premiere Media Partnership. The company is co-founded by Ori Inbar and produces events in collaboration with AugmentedReality.org, BrainXchange, and Prospera Events.

Name

AWE (Augmented World Expo)

Legal name

AWE XR, LLC

Website

https://awexr.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

AWE (Augmented World Expo) is a privately held event platform that produces the world's largest annual XR and spatial computing conference series across the USA, Europe, and Asia, serving enterprise adopters, developers, investors, and the XR ecosystem with ticketed events, sponsorships, and community programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

XR Industry Conferences and Trade Shows

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Technology & Innovation Expos Organizers (THAHABAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Virtual Trade Shows & Expos (Digital Booths, Lead Capture) (MPAGAOAB)

Keywords

• XR conference series
• AR/VR industry events
• Spatial computing expos
• Technology conference organization
• Enterprise XR trade shows

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Clara

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Event Tickets: Revenue generated from attendee tickets for in-person conferences and passes. The company offers various ticket tiers including Early Bird passes with discounts, with Super Early Bird passes available for AWE USA events.
2. Sponsorship and Exhibitor Fees: Major revenue stream from companies sponsoring events and purchasing exhibition booth space. The 2027 event page lists sponsor tiers and exhibitor opportunities including Playground applications, booth space on the 150,000+ sqft expo floor.
3. Corporate Partnerships: The company offers Enterprise VIP programs, partner sponsorship tiers, and various marketing integration opportunities for corporate partners looking to engage the XR/AI industry community.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

AWE (Augmented World Expo) produces and operates the world's leading in-person conference and expo series for the XR/AR/VR and spatial AI industry. The company sells attendee tickets, exhibitor booth space, and corporate sponsorships for flagship events (AWE USA, AWE EU/UnitedXR Europe, AWE Asia) and runs year-round community meetups (AWE Nites), aggregating developers, enterprises, investors, startups, researchers, and creators around the $40 billion XR market.

Product overview

AWE (Augmented World Expo) is the world's #1 XR + AI conference and event series, operating as a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering includes annual regional conferences (AWE USA, AWE EU/UnitedXR Europe, AWE Asia) and year-round AWE Nites meetups. Supporting modules include the AWE Playground (20,000 sq ft immersive demo experience), the Auggie Awards (annual industry awards), the XR Hall of Fame (pioneer recognition), Startup Pitch Competition (investor-startup matching), Art Festival (immersive art showcase), and Academic/Research Posters program. Specialized tracks and zones include the LBE Zone, Gaming Hub, Builder Program, Enterprise VIP Program, and Investors Program. The event series serves over 5,000 attendees, 250+ exhibitors, and 400+ speakers per major event, positioning itself as the essential gathering for the $40B+ XR industry focused on spatial AI applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AWE Nites: Year-round global meetup events for the XR community
• Auggie Awards
• XR Hall of Fame
• AWE Playground
• Startup Pitch Competition
• Art Festival
• Academic and Research Posters

Products and services

• AWE USA Conference The premier annual XR and spatial computing conference and trade show in North America, held in Long Beach, California. Features conference sessions across 50+ tracks, a 150,000+ sqft expo floor with 250+ exhibitors, the AWE Playground, Auggie Awards, Startup Pitch Competition, Art Festival, and networking for enterprise end users, developers, startups, and investors.
• UnitedXR Europe (AWE EU) Conference Annual European XR conference, currently held in Brussels, Belgium (previously in Munich, Germany). Brings together the European spatial computing community with regional industry leaders, exhibitors, and speakers.
• AWE Asia Conference Annual Asian XR conference serving the Asia-Pacific market, bringing together regional and global XR industry leaders, exhibitors, and developers in Shanghai, China.
• AWE Nites Meetup Series Year-round global community meetups held in cities worldwide, providing ongoing networking, education, and community engagement for XR professionals, developers, and enthusiasts between the major annual AWE conferences.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5,000+ attendees, 250+ exhibitors, 400+ speakers at AWE USA 2027
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Road to VRflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerRoad to VR serves as the official Premiere Media Partner for AWE events, providing editorial coverage and promotional support. As part of this partnership, Road to VR offers an exclusive 20% discount on tickets to its audience, helping drive attendance while providing media visibility and credibility for AWE events.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Web Summit: Web Summit is one of the largest tech conferences globally, with editions in Lisbon, Rio, and other cities. It is a broad incumbent peer because it competes for the same enterprise tech sponsors and exhibitor dollars that AWE monetizes, and increasingly features XR/AI content, even though its scope spans all of tech.
• Mobile World Congress (GSMA): MWC Barcelona and MWC Shanghai are the flagship telecom and mobile-industry events run by GSMA. They are broad incumbent peers because AWE Asia runs in Shanghai alongside MWC Shanghai, and AWE competes with MWC for the same mobile/connectivity platform sponsors (Qualcomm, Google, Meta) and enterprise attendees.
• CES (Consumer Technology Association): CES is the largest consumer technology trade show globally, run by the Consumer Technology Association. While broader in scope, CES overlaps with AWE in the XR/AR/VR exhibitor and attendee base, and competes for major platform keynote slots (Snap, Google, Meta) and smartglass launches that AWE also courts.
• SXSW Conference & Festivals: SXSW is a major annual conference and festival in Austin, Texas with significant XR, gaming, and immersive-media programming. It is a broad incumbent peer because it competes for AWE's enterprise end users, creative/art audience, and sponsors across the same XR + AI content vertical, while also serving a broader music/film audience.

Direct peers

• SIGGRAPH: SIGGRAPH is the premier annual conference for computer graphics and interactive techniques, organized by ACM. It is a direct peer because it serves overlapping audiences (XR researchers, graphics developers, immersive-media creators), runs an academic poster program similar to AWE's research track, and competes for the same high-value academic and enterprise sponsors.
• GDC (Game Developers Conference): GDC is the flagship annual conference for the game-development industry, owned by Informa. It is a direct peer because it operates the same event-driven B2B conference + expo + sponsor model, shares a significant subset of AWE's XR/AR/VR gaming and developer audience, and similarly monetizes ticket sales, sponsor tiers, and exhibitor floor space.
• Slush: Slush is a leading founder-and-investor focused tech conference held annually in Helsinki, with global expansion. It is a direct peer in operating a high-energy annual B2B tech event with heavy startup pitch programming, sponsor monetization, and an investor-attendee base similar to AWE's Investors Program.
• TechCrunch Disrupt: TechCrunch Disrupt is a flagship tech conference with a major startup pitch competition (Startup Battlefield) that is structurally analogous to AWE's Startup Pitch Competition. It is a direct peer in the B2B event + sponsor + startup-pitch model and overlaps with AWE's investor and startup audiences.

Regional players

• IFA Berlin: IFA is Europe's leading consumer electronics and home appliances trade show held annually in Berlin. It is a regional player peer because it competes with AWE EU / UnitedXR Europe for the same European consumer-electronics exhibitors and attendees, and increasingly features XR/smartglasses content alongside its broader appliance focus.

Emerging players

• VRTO / Virtual & Augmented Reality World Conference: VRTO is a smaller, niche XR-focused annual conference with strong academic and creator programming. It is an emerging-player peer because it competes for the same XR developer, creator, and academic audience as AWE but operates at much smaller scale and without AWE's enterprise sponsorship base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/ARealityEvent
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/AugmentedRealityOrg
• Facebookfacebook.com/AugmentedWorldExpo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/augmentedworldexpo
• Instagraminstagram.com/awe.xr

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about AWE (Augmented World Expo)