The VR/AR Association

What The VR/AR Association does

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is a global, membership-based non-profit industry association founded in 2015 and legally domiciled in St. Louis, Missouri. Its stated function is to connect professionals, companies, academic institutions, and government entities working across virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, XR, and spatial computing. The organization operates a decentralized network of 70+ chapters in major metropolitan areas across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, reaching an asserted 50,000+ professionals and a VR/AR Directory of 4,000+ companies. The leadership team is led by Founder and President Nathan Pettyjohn, with John Cunningham serving as President.

VRARA does not develop proprietary technology. Its "product surface" is a service portfolio organized around membership: tiered subscriptions (Student $199/yr through Corporate Platinum Strategic $36,000/yr), publications and analyst research (with member discounts up to 40%), events (100+ per year including the Immerse Global Summit), training programs (20+ courses delivered to 1,000+ professionals), a weekly newsletter ("The VR/AR Beat") with 80,000+ reach, the "Everything VR & AR" podcast, webinars, equipment rentals for major XR headsets, a University Partner Program, and industry committees organized by vertical. Marquee members publicly featured on its site include Meta, Microsoft, Lenovo, and Epic Games.

The business model is primarily subscription-recurring revenue from tiered annual membership dues, supplemented by event sponsorships, partner program economics, and bundled services such as analyst research access. Go-to-market is community-led and hybrid: self-serve online enrollment via a GrowthZone-backed member portal, combined with field-driven recruitment through Chapter Presidents and event-led engagement. Distribution is global but operates with a small core staff (1-10 employees), relying on the volunteer chapter network for regional execution.

Name

The VR/AR Association

Legal name

VR/AR Associations (VRARA)

Website

https://thevrara.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is a global non-profit membership association connecting 50,000+ XR, AR, VR, and spatial computing professionals and 4,000+ companies across 70+ chapters worldwide through tiered dues, events, training, publications, and industry committees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

XR Industry Association & Professional Community

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

VR/AR Gaming Platforms (BPAMAKAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

VR-Based Skills Training Simulations (Soft Skills, Customer Service, Leadership) (EDAFAJAA)

Keywords

• XR industry association
• VR AR networking
• Immersive technology community
• XR training programs
• Industry research publications

Headquarters

HQ city

St Louis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Annual Membership Dues: VRARA generates revenue primarily through tiered annual membership fees. The association offers multiple membership levels including Student, Professional, Startup, Company, College, University, and Corporate tiers. Revenue is recurring from annual renewals, with membership providing access to programs, events, research, promotional opportunities, and a worldwide network of immersive technology leaders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is a global membership-based industry association that connects 50,000+ XR (VR, AR, MR, AI, and spatial computing) professionals across 70+ chapters worldwide. Its core offering is a tiered membership network providing access to events and summits, training programs, publications, research, a company directory of 4,000+ firms, and community channels.

Product overview

The VR/AR Association (VRARA) is a global membership-based industry association that connects professionals across the VR, AR, and XR ecosystem. Rather than a unified software product with modules, VRARA operates as a service portfolio centered on its membership network of 50,000+ professionals across 40+ global chapters. The association provides value through publications (guidelines, case studies, white papers), events and summits (100+ per year including the Immerse Global Summit), training programs, webinars, podcasts, newsletters, equipment rentals, a university partner program, and The VR/AR Directory listing 4000+ companies. Some member companies and their products (such as Virtualware's VIROO platform and ONE Digital Consulting's Vivaldi experience) are featured and supported through the VRARA ecosystem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The VR/AR Beat: Weekly newsletter covering Association & industry news, events, discounts, and more.
• Immerse Global Summit
• Everything VR & AR Podcast
• VRARA On-Demand Videos

Products and services

• VRARA Membership Network Global membership network connecting 50,000+ professionals across 40+ chapters worldwide, providing networking opportunities, industry events, VIP executive networking, and community access through channels including Slack and weekly web conferences.
• VRARA Events & Summits (including Immerse Global Summit) 100+ events per year including the annual Immerse Global Summit, local chapter events, and partner events offering speaking, exhibition, and sponsorship opportunities with member discounts.
• VRARA Training Program Online and on-site training programs with over 20 courses taught by industry instructors to more than 1,000 professionals, covering VR and AR app development.
• VRARA Publications Industry publications including guidelines, case studies, KPIs, ROI reports, white papers, and research reports providing best practices and market insights for XR professionals.
• VRARA Podcast - Everything VR & AR Weekly podcast featuring key industry people and thought leadership content from the XR ecosystem.
• VRARA Webinars Monthly live webcasts with industry thought-leaders providing ongoing education and knowledge sharing for XR professionals.
• The VR/AR Beat Newsletter Weekly newsletter covering association news, industry news, events, discounts, and member updates, reaching 80,000+ subscribers.
• The VR/AR Directory Directory listing over 4,000 companies within the XR ecosystem, facilitating business connections and partner discovery.
• Equipment Rental Program Equipment rental service for headsets (HoloLens, Oculus, HTC, Pico, RealWear, HP), PCs, and other XR hardware, available to members and free to VR/AR Global Summit ticket holders.
• University Partner Program Academic collaboration program connecting universities and colleges with the XR industry for research partnerships, curriculum alignment, and educational opportunities.
• On-Demand Video Library Archive of recorded videos from past VRARA events available for member viewing on-demand.
• ARtillery Intelligence Analyst Research Industry analyst bundled research package providing monthly reports with XR industry data and insights, available to members at up to 40% off.

Quantifiable outcome

• Member created $2 million in new revenue within 24 months of joining
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered regional, core, flagship and minor.

• Ohio Chapter of the VR/AR AssociationregionalStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 January 2026The Ohio Chapter, led by Omari Hitson (Chapter President), fosters collaboration across healthcare, aerospace, defense, education, and finance sectors in Ohio. The chapter aims to create a 90-day statewide validation network for emerging technologies and positions Ohio as the global capital of intuitive spatial design by 2050.
• Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 December 2025XPANCEO launched ground testing for its next-generation AR smart contact lens as part of a collaboration with MBRSC, marking a significant move toward the first contact lens engineered specifically for space missions.
• Nobel Laureate Sir Konstantin NovoselovflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 November 2025XPANCEO formed a Scientific Advisory Board chaired by Nobel Laureate Sir Konstantin Novoselov to guide its development of the world's first invisible, weightless smart contact lens for AI-powered extended reality.
• INTRA-KERcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 September 2025XPANCEO and INTRA-KER partnered to develop an intracorneal implant prototype designed to restore vision for 12 million patients. The implant captures visual data via smart glasses and projects it directly to the retina, offering an alternative for transplant recipients who remain legally blind after surgery.
• VIVERSE (HTC)flagshipTechnology or Integration · 5 August 2025MetaCities launched its MetaMusic Festival at the Neon Aqua Theater virtual venue powered by VIVERSE, available on Mac, PCs, Android, tablets, and VR headsets. VIVERSE is HTC's 3D content platform hosting the virtual venue.
• SimumatikcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 July 2025Virtualware acquired Swedish company Simumatik in October 2024, expanding its capabilities in digital twin and simulation technologies. This acquisition supports Virtualware's three-year Strategic Plan for key industries including energy, automotive, transportation, defense, manufacturing, education, and healthcare.
• SoapboxcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 24 June 2025VRARA spotlights Soapbox as a trailblazing immersive platform bringing artists directly into fans' living rooms in VR and as life-size holograms. T-Pain's immersive 4D content launched exclusively on Soapbox for Meta Quest users.
• Solidstate RecordsminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 20 June 2025Soapbox released a proof-of-concept full band live hologram recording with metalcore band Norma Jean in collaboration with Solidstate Records.
• HololightcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 June 2025Virtualware and Hololight announced a strategic partnership at AWE USA 2025 to integrate Virtualware's VIROO XR platform into Hololight Hub, enabling enterprises to access and deploy VIROO's multiuser and collaborative capabilities across XR devices without hardware constraints.
• University of DubaicoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 June 2025XPANCEO signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Dubai for joint R&D projects, co-authored publications, internship and mentorship programs, shared laboratory facilities access, and joint participation in innovation challenges and international hackathons. The University of Dubai is ranked among the UAE's top six academic and corporate organizations by Nature Index.
• Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 May 2025Magnetic 3D partnered with Rutgers RWJMS to advance clinical research and applications leveraging glasses-free 3D platform. Focus areas include cardiology 3D imaging for visualization, education, surgical planning, and training, along with AI-powered medical devices and interactive educational tools.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Metaverse Standards Forum: The Metaverse Standards Forum is an industry consortium coordinating interoperability standards across XR, 3D, and spatial computing. It addresses a portion of VRARA's standards/committee mandate and counts many of the same enterprise members, but is standards-focused rather than a general membership network.
• XR Association: The XR Association (XRA) is the most direct competitor — a US-headquartered trade association for the XR industry with major platform members (Meta, Google, Microsoft, Sony). Like VRARA, it promotes industry growth, policy advocacy, and research, but is more policy/standards focused and US-centric versus VRARA's global chapter model.
• Khronos Group: The Khronos Group is the standards body that maintains OpenXR, glTF, and other XR-adjacent standards. It overlaps with VRARA's standards/committee work and serves many of the same enterprise members, but is a technical-standards consortium rather than a broad membership association.
• AWE (Augmented World Expo): AWE is the leading XR-specific event series and community, running the annual AWE conference and Auggie Awards. It competes directly with VRARA's Immerse Global Summit for enterprise XR mindshare and sponsorship dollars, though AWE is events-first whereas VRARA is membership-first.

Emerging players

• Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN): iLRN is an academic/professional network focused on immersive learning, covering VR/AR in education and training. It overlaps with VRARA's training programs and university partner initiatives but is research/academic-led, making it an emerging peer in the education vertical rather than a general XR community competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Consumer Technology Association (CTA): CTA is the broader tech industry trade association that produces CES. It overlaps with VRARA in representing technology companies and running large industry events, but operates across all consumer tech verticals rather than specializing in XR.
• SXSW: SXSW is a major annual convergence of tech, film, music, and culture in Austin, TX. It overlaps with VRARA's events/community model and includes XR programming, but is a multi-vertical festival rather than an XR-specialized association.
• SIGGRAPH / ACM SIGGRAPH: SIGGRAPH is the premier computer graphics and interactive techniques conference and community. It serves a portion of VRARA's technical/research audience (graphics, rendering, XR) but is academic-led and broader in scope than the applied XR/AR industry focus of VRARA.
• Web Summit: Web Summit is one of the largest global tech conference operators (Web Summit, Collision, Web Summit Rio). It is comparable as a large-scale tech events/community business but addresses the broader tech industry rather than specializing in XR, making it adjacent rather than directly competitive.

Regional players

• AR/VR Association of India / regional XR bodies: Regional XR associations (e.g., AR/VR Association of India) operate membership/community models similar to VRARA's chapter network but are geographically limited. They represent direct comparables for chapter economics and member engagement, particularly in markets where VRARA has lighter presence.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubethevrara.com/vr-ar-news-entertainment-video-channel
• Xx.com/thevrara
• Facebookfacebook.com/vrarassociation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vr-ar-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

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 The VR/AR Association