Histovery

What Histovery does

Histovery is a Paris-based augmented reality company that builds immersive 3D and AR experiences for museums, monuments, and cultural heritage sites. Its core product, the HistoPad, is a tablet-based system that lets visitors scan 'Time Portals' (Portes du Temps) to trigger 360-degree historical reconstructions, supported by Unreal Engine 5 rendering, offline geolocation, generative AI-animated historical figures, and a proprietary HistoPad Development Kit (HPDK). The company also operates the HistoveryData CRM, which captures visitor dwell time, satisfaction, demographics, and engagement metrics across deployments.

The offering is structured as a multi-year managed service across five lines: HistoPad in situ (full-service on-site deployment with up to 100% of initial investment covered by Histovery), traveling Augmented Exhibitions (e.g., Notre-Dame de Paris with L'Oréal sponsorship, D-Day: Freedom from above, American Revolution), self-service Station HistoPad kiosks, a QR-code Web App, and Educational Kits for schools. Content is produced by an in-house team of art historians, 3D artists, and Unity integrators, with historical accuracy validated by external scientific committees.

Histovery's go-to-market is enterprise field sales to government and nonprofit cultural institutions, supplemented by event-driven demand generated through touring exhibitions across four continents and approximately 20 cities. As of 2023, the HistoPad was used by more than 3 million visitors annually across 18+ deployed sites, with on-site deployments concentrated in France, Germany, Belgium, and the United States. The company closed a $4.16M funding round from Bpifrance and MI3 in February 2025 to support its U.S. expansion and the planned 50-state American Revolution tour running through 2031.

Name

Histovery

Legal name

Histovery

Website

https://histovery.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Histovery builds augmented reality and 3D immersive experiences for museums and cultural heritage sites. Its HistoPad tablets let visitors trigger photorealistic historical reconstructions at 18+ deployed institutions across Europe and North America, delivered via multi-year managed service and traveling exhibitions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. On-site HistoPad (HistoPad in situ): Complete mediation service for cultural sites where HistoPad tablets are distributed to visitors. Includes up to 100% investment coverage by Histovery, tablet provision, installation, geolocation setup, and regular content updates.
2. Augmented Exhibitions: Traveling, duplicable, temporary exhibitions that combine physical scenography with AR. Histovery handles design, manufacturing, installation, deinstallation, and provides equipment.
3. HistoPad Station: Autonomous station holding 4 HistoPads freely accessible to visitors. Design, manufacturing, installation provided by Histovery.
4. Web App (QR Code System): Interactive 3D experiences accessible via smartphone scanning QR codes. No app download required, no distribution personnel needed.
5. Educational Kit (Valise pédagogique): Suitcase of HistoPad tablets with historical experiences sent to schools for interactive educational purposes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Histovery designs, produces, and operates the HistoPad, a tablet-based augmented reality solution that delivers immersive 360-degree historical reconstructions at museums, monuments, and cultural heritage sites. The company provides complete managed services including editorial content design, tablet provisioning, geolocation setup, installation, ongoing maintenance, and content updates. Beyond permanent in-situ deployments, Histovery creates traveling Augmented Exhibitions that visit multiple venues across continents, alongside self-service kiosks (HistoPad Station), QR-code web apps, and educational kits for schools.

Product overview

Histovery offers the Augmented Visit, a suite of technology solutions for immersive historical and cultural experiences. The core product is the HistoPad, a tablet-based augmented reality system deployed at cultural sites worldwide. The offering includes: HistoPad in situ (on-site tablet solution with full production and maintenance), Exposition Augmentée (traveling temporary exhibitions), Station HistoPad (self-service kiosks), Web App (QR code smartphone experience), Valise pédagogique (school kits), and HistoData (visitor analytics CRM). The products share the common HistoPad Development Kit (HPDK) as the underlying platform, enabling interactive 360° reconstructions, augmented reality portal scanning, and rich media content delivery across all solutions. HistoPad in situ and traveling exhibitions form the primary offerings, while stations, web apps, and educational kits extend accessibility to additional contexts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HistoPad in situ On-site complete mediation service for museums and cultural sites; tablets distributed to all visitors with Histovery covering up to 100% of initial investment, handling design, installation, geolocation without Wi-Fi, and regular content updates on multi-year contracts.
• Exposition Augmentée (Augmented Exhibition) Traveling, duplicable, temporary augmented exhibitions combining physical scenography with HistoPad AR technology; Histovery handles design, manufacturing, installation, deinstallation, and equipment provision. D-Day and Notre-Dame exhibitions have traveled to over 20 cities across four continents.
• HistoPad Station Autonomous self-service kiosk holding 4 HistoPads freely accessible to visitors without need for distribution personnel; 1m² footprint with design, manufacturing, and installation handled by Histovery. Targets smaller venues requiring scalable engagement.
• Web App (QR Code Experience) Interactive 3D AR experiences accessible via smartphone by scanning QR codes at cultural sites; no app download required, no distribution personnel needed. Supports indoor, outdoor, and roaming tours with annual subscription pricing.
• Valise pédagogique (Educational Kit) Suitcase of HistoPad tablets with Time Gates and visuals containing selected historical experiences, sent to schools for interactive classroom history education; includes teacher training. Licensed under unit pricing with pay-as-you-go billing.
• HistoveryData (HistoData) CRM dashboard purpose-built for cultural institutions, collecting visitor data including visit duration, satisfaction, flow patterns, content engagement, demographics, and email addresses to support audience development and engagement analytics.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3 million+ visitors experienced HistoPad in 2023
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and regional.

• Museum of the American Revolution (Philadelphia)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2024Design partnership for American Revolution, the Augmented Exhibition. Historians and scholars from the museum collaborated on content development validating historical accuracy of Revolutionary War reconstructions.
• L'OréalflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2019Exclusive sponsorship for Notre-Dame de Paris, l'Exposition Augmentée. L'Oréal's support enabled the flagship augmented reality exhibition showcasing 850 years of cathedral history from construction through restoration.
• Établissement public chargé de la conservation et de la restauration de la cathédrale Notre-Dame de PariscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial collaboration with the public body overseeing Notre-Dame restoration, providing authoritative content validation and access for the augmented reality exhibition.
• Army Historical FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPresented the American Revolution augmented reality exhibition at National Museum of the United States Army, supporting the traveling exhibition through end of 2027.
• Charlotte Museum of HistoryregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosted American Revolution exhibition with exclusive Southeast regional rights for one year; raised $1M+ in funding for the exhibit.
• Schlösserland SachsencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman state partnership for Colditz Castle and Moritzburg Castle HistoPad deployments; third German castle equipped following partnership.
• National Museum of the United States ArmycoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerHost venue for D-Day: Freedom from above and American Revolution exhibitions at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; museum struggling to attract full capacity since 2020 opening.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Smartify: Smartify is a mobile app using image recognition and AR to deliver cultural content at museums and galleries; it is a direct competitor in smartphone-mediated AR experiences for museums.
• GuideID: GuideID offers multimedia and audio guide apps widely used in museums and tourist attractions, directly competing with HistoPad for visitor device rentals and self-guided experiences.
• Cuseum: Cuseum provides digital engagement platforms and AR/QR experiences specifically for museums and cultural institutions, overlapping directly with Histovery's on-site and QR-code web app offerings.
• Bloomberg Connects: Bloomberg Connects is a free app platform for cultural institutions offering digital guides, audio tours, and AR content; it competes with Histovery's web app and on-site visitor experience offerings.
• Acute Art: Acute Art produces VR and AR immersive experiences in partnership with major museums and artists, competing for the same cultural-institution budget for next-generation immersive exhibits.

Emerging players

• Niantic: Niantic builds consumer-scale AR platforms (Pokémon GO, Ingress) and is exploring tourism and cultural heritage applications with its Lightship AR stack; it represents an emerging platform-level competitor in location-based AR.
• Mused: Mused is a digital storytelling and AR/AI guided tour platform for museums, historic sites, and cities, directly overlapping with Histovery's on-site and web-app visitor experience product.

Broad incumbents

• Microsoft (Mixed Reality & HoloLens): Microsoft provides mixed reality and HoloLens platforms that have been deployed at cultural heritage sites, functioning as a broad incumbent technology provider overlapping with Histovery's AR stack.
• Google Arts & Culture: Google Arts & Culture is a large-scale platform providing immersive, AR, and 3D content across thousands of museums; it is a broad incumbent operating at scale in the same cultural-heritage content space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/histovery
• YouTubevimeo.com/histopad
• Facebookfacebook.com/Histovery
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/histopad
• Instagraminstagram.com/histovery

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

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 Histovery