AMPD Ventures Inc. Subsidiary Departure Lounge Inc. Enters Education Collaboration Agreement with The Centre For Digital Media - Announces Plans To Establish A Metaverse Innovation Centre

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 3, 2022 / AMPD Ventures Inc. ("AMPD" or the "Company", CSE:AMPD; OTCQB:AMPDF; FRA:2Q0) a next-generation digital infrastructure provider, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary Departure Lounge Inc., a Vancouver, BC-based company offering a range of Metaverse-related technologies and creative services ("Departure Lounge") has entered into a lease and education collaboration agreement with the Centre for Digital Media ("CDM"), as the first phase of plans to develop a globally attractive Metaverse Innovation Centre.

Announcement Highlights

• Departure Lounge will house its range of Metaverse-related technology solutions, including its recently announced state-of-the-art Metastage volumetric capture stage, on campus at the CDM.
• The facility is expected to be used as a catalyst for a range of work-integrated learning and research opportunities including students, faculty, and the community of digital content creators across the province.
• The CDM will collaborate with Departure Lounge and other industry and community-based partners to develop Metaverse-related micro-credentials and other programs to help address skilled labor shortages and ensure resources are made available to a broad cross-section of the community.
• Departure Lounge is seeking expressions of interest from other potential collaborators.

"Our founding team has enjoyed working with CDM students, alumni, and faculty on many collaborative projects over the years, and I am pleased that we have been able to establish our Departure Lounge Vancouver HQ at the heart of such a thriving digital media community," said James Hursthouse, CEO at Departure Lounge. "Departure Lounge and our partners will take an active role in promoting industry academic partnerships and helping to develop the next generation of digital creative talent here in BC as we embrace the opportunity represented by the Metaverse and new frontiers in immersive content development."

Hursthouse also sits on the recently launched DigiBC Micro-Credentials Industry Advisory Committee, an initiative between DigiBC (The Creative Technology Association of British Columbia, a member-supported non-profit organization based in Vancouver, BC), and BC public post-secondary institutions to develop innovative creative technology training in BC to address skills gaps identified by employers.