An Interview with Evan Gappelberg, NexTech AR Solutions Founder and CEO: ‘We Augment Reality’

“We just recently launched our patent-pending web-enabled AR platform and have had huge success in these early days.”

Augmented Reality (AR) is a huge buzzword these days. Businesses have shifted their major concerns to this technology, and developers are now having access to some powerful frameworks in order to create AR apps. This is because AR has a high potential for business growth.

AR has prevailed in various business domains, including traveling, gaming, media and entertainment, marketing, and education. As a whole, this technology provides ample opportunities for new, innovative, and existing businesses.

In view of the above-mentioned scenario, we’re thrilled to present NexTech AR Solutions.

NexTech engages in the acquisition and development of augmented reality (AR) technology. It is creating an AR ecosystem featuring e-commerce solutions for Websites, AR learning, and education, as well as AR, live streaming for events. Its AR Web-enabled e-commerce platform has been integrated with Shopify, Wordpress, and Magento. The company’s products include ARitize app that hosts various brands 3D objects and augmented reality experiences; and edCetra, an e-learning platform.

NexTech is a dual-listed company; appears on the USA (NEXCF) and Canada (NTAR) exchanges. 

The company was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Evan Gappelberg, NexTech AR Solutions Founder/CEO, spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review. Below is an excerpt.

Q. Why was the company set up?

The company was setup to take advantage of the emerging trillion-dollar mega-trend of Augmented Reality. The mission of Nextech is to bring AR to the masses not as a game or novelty but as a business tool, as something that gets woven into the fabric of everyday life. Nextech envisions a world where you’re interacting with AR round the clock. What’s unique about our company is that we have created a web-enabled AR platform and using that to build an ecosystem around our three verticals AR eCommerce, AR University, and AR Live Streaming platforms.

Q. Tell us about your first product that was launched.

The company’s first product launch was its patent-pending web-enabled AR eCommerce solution which has been integrated with Shopify, WordPress and Magento. The offering allows consumers to interact from the privacy of home with the product as a 3D digital twin in real time and deliver ‘touch-and-feel’ experience similar to that of in-store shopping. The AR or 3D shopping experience can ‘go live’ on any eCommerce site with just a few lines of embed code creating a highly scalable platform that democratizes AR at scale and ushers in a new era of AR shopping for the masses.

Q. What is your company’s position in the current market scenario?

The current state of the AR market is dynamic with new companies and new applications popping up everywhere, we’re at the very beginning of a mega-trend; an emerging bull market. In fact, according to ZION Research AR is growing at an 86.5 percent CAGR and growing from $26 billion in 2018 to $121 billion by 2021…the AR industry is growing very, very fast! Nextech is unique in that; it’s a public company with a first mover advantage and represents a small-cap pure-play investment in AR. Currently, investors have the option of investing in heavyweight technology companies like Apple, Nvidia, Google, and Amazon, which are all investing billions into AR, or a pure play startup like Nextech AR Solutions.

Q. How successful was your first project roll out?

We just recently launched our patent-pending web enabled AR platform and have had huge success in these early days. For example, we ARitized (our trademarked word for turning a 2D object into a 3D object) a single item for sale on an eCommerce website and the site reported that in one week the ARitized product generated as much revenue as it previously did in four weeks…which is quite a robust ROI considering it cost $79/month for the subscription to our platform and the item generated $5,000 in revenue for the site in the first week.

Q. What are the factors that make your company stand out from the competition?

Being the first scalable web-enabled AR platform which offers seamless integration with all eCommerce sites makes us the best AR investment for 2019. The opportunity that we see for our web-enabled AR is simply stated enormous. Our AR platform which is patent-pending will offer, for a small monthly fee of $79, an embed code which will work on every website on every browser no developer needed, no special programing needed just plug and play. As opposed to other AR technology companies like Apple, AMZN, Shopify, IKEA, and Houzz, we are focused on bringing AR to the masses and democratizing AR so that it’s available for both large and small eCommerce business owners.

Q. Do you have any new products ready to be rolled out into the market?

Yes! We are a technology company and so we are always going to be developing new products and offerings. Currently, we are launching our “Virtual Try On” AR software for glasses, hats, earrings, makeup and more. Basically, anything above the shoulders will be able to be seen on the face or head by a person shopping from home. So, it will appear as if the product the consumer is shopping for, say a hat, is actually sitting on the shopper’s head and will move with the head so that the buyer knows if the style and look is what they really want. This is just one exciting offering; soon we will be able to scan a person’s body at home so that they can virtually try on clothing. These technologies will change the world as we know it!

Q. Where do you see your company a couple of years from now?

In a couple of years, we expect to be a billion-dollar company; one of the pioneers in AR technology. We expect to be the backbone of the AR ecosystem with millions of eCommerce sites, universities, and businesses using our technology primarily through smart glasses; as that is the future.

Evan Gappelberg: A Brief Background

Evan Gappelberg is an accomplished entrepreneur with an expertise in creating, funding and running start- ups. He has extensive experience both as a hands-on operating executive and as a public markets professional. Mr. Gappelberg was the Co-founder and CEO of EG Products, where he funded, patented, imported and distributed the market’s first LED light-up toy. He secured license deals from Disney, Universal Studios, Clear Channel Communication and built a national sales channel, landing contracts with Walgreen’s, Macy’s, and live event shows like Ringling Bros. Prior to EG products, Mr. Gappelberg worked on Wall Street and has more than 20 years of experience dating back to the 1990’s as both a hedge fund manager and Senior Vice President of Finance where he underwrote Take Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) which has a current US market cap of over $10Billion.

Recently, Mr. Gappelberg was responsible for bringing in the seed investors to Future Farm Technologies (CSE: FFT/OTCQX: FFRMF) and was instrumental in helping expand its market capitalization by over 20X before he left to start Nextech AR Solutions.

“Our mission is to bring AR to the masses not as a game or novelty but as a business tool, as something that gets woven into the fabric of everyday life.”