AR/VR Africa

What AR/VR Africa does

AR/VR Africa is a continent-wide community initiative operated by Imisi 3D, a private African XR Creation Lab headquartered at 3rd Floor, 8 Montgomery Road, Yaba Phase 2, Lagos, Nigeria. Founded in 2016 by Judith Okonkwo (CEO of Imisi 3D and Convener of ARVR Africa), the initiative builds a community of extended reality (XR) creators — encompassing virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive technologies — across Africa. Its core offerings are structured programmes rather than software products: continent-wide hackathons (since 2016, reaching 42 countries in the 2022 edition), multi-month bootcamps culminating in Demo Day investor pitches, monthly in-person masterclasses, and community meetups. Underlying technology is a community platform spanning physical infrastructure (labs in Lagos, Kigali, Maputo, Dakar), online Discord community (2,767 members in 2022 training), and partnerships with universities and tech hubs across the continent.

The business model is sponsorship- and partnership-funded rather than user-paid. All programmes — including XR learning, tools, lab access, masterclasses, and meetups — are offered free of charge to participants. Revenue streams derive from corporate sponsorships (Meta, Samsung, Microsoft), institutional partners (Co-Creation Hub, African Leadership University, Université Cheikh Anta Diop), and country-level channel partners across Africa. Customer segments are bifurcated: a long tail of XR creators, students, and early-career technologists on the user side, and a small set of large technology companies on the sponsor side seeking to reach African XR developers at formative stages of their tool and platform choices. The organisation does not disclose institutional investment, headcount, or financial figures, and operates as a community brand under the Imisi 3D parent entity without VC or PE backing.

Name

AR/VR Africa

Legal name

Imisi 3D

Website

https://arvrafrica.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Short description

AR/VR Africa is a community initiative by Imisi 3D running continent-wide XR (extended reality) hackathons, bootcamps, masterclasses, and physical labs across Africa since 2016, funded by corporate sponsorships and serving African XR creators and developers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Extended Reality Community and Education

NAICS

Computer Training (611420), Educational Support Services (611710)

akta.pro primary industry

Creator Tools & Content Pipelines for Immersive Learning (VR lesson builders, 3D asset workflows) (EDAFAJAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

VR/AR/XR Game Studios (MPAFAAAE), AR/VR & Immersive Learning Content Development (EDAGAKAI), VR/AR Gaming Platforms (BPAMAKAG)

Keywords

• XR community building
• Extended reality education
• VR hackathons Africa
• AR development training
• Immersive technology programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Lagos

HQ country

Nigeria

HQ region

Africa

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship and Partnership: ARVR Africa operates as a community initiative primarily funded through sponsorships from major technology companies (Meta, Facebook, Samsung, Microsoft) and institutional partners. The programme offers partnership opportunities for companies seeking to reach African XR creators.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

AR/VR Africa is a free, community-driven programme that builds a continent-wide pipeline of African XR creators through hackathons, bootcamps, masterclasses, meetups, and physical XR Creation Labs in Lagos, Kigali, Maputo, and Dakar. It is funded by corporate sponsorships and delivers structured training, prototype sprints, and Demo Day investor pitches — taking participants from learning XR tools to launching investable startups.

Product overview

ARVR Africa is a continent-wide community initiative by Imisi 3D focused on building a community of XR (extended reality) creators across Africa. The organisation does not offer a traditional software product but rather a portfolio of interconnected community programmes: the ARVR Africa Hackathon (a three-phase programme of Training, Hackathon, and Bootcamp culminating in Demo Day), ARVR Africa Masterclasses (monthly tool-specific in-person sessions since 2017), ARVR Africa Meetups (community gatherings since 2017), physical ARVR Africa Labs in four cities (Lagos, Kigali, Maputo, Dakar), and community chapters in new cities. Supporting offerings include the Africa XR Ecosystem Report and organised delegations to global XR events like Laval Virtual.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ARVR Africa Hackathon
• ARVR Africa Bootcamp
• Africa XR Ecosystem Report Published report mapping companies, startups, freelancers, and academics working in XR across Africa, serving as an evidence base for the African XR ecosystem.
• ARVR Africa Training

Quantifiable outcome

• 5,000+ hackathon participants over 10 years
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting and minor.

• Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 September 2024Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar — partner and host of the Dakar Lab within its CURI centre. Professor Idrissa Sarr serves as host. The third ARVR Africa lab opened here on 10 September 2024.
• African Leadership UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2022Rwanda country partner for the 2020 hackathon and host of the Kigali Lab. The first ARVR Africa lab outside Nigeria opened here in December 2022.
• Meta (Facebook)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2022Primary sponsor of the 2022 ARVR Africa Hackathon (as Meta). Previously primary sponsor of the 2020 edition (as Facebook). Partner and host for the 2016 hackathon at Co-Creation Hub, Lagos. CEO Bosun Tijani served as a judge.
• MicrosoftsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2020Eight Microsoft volunteers supported the 2020 hackathon. Microsoft Fellow Alex Kipman (creator of HoloLens and Kinect) spoke at the May 2019 meetup.
• 5dVR (Egypt)supportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2020Egypt country partner for the 2020 online hackathon. Powered offline grand finale in Egypt.
• Virima XR (Senegal)supportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2020Senegal country partner for the 2020 online hackathon. Powered offline grand finale in Senegal.
• Netinfo (Tunisia)supportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2020Tunisia country partner for the 2020 online hackathon. Powered offline grand finale in Tunisia.
• African Technopreneur (South Africa)supportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2020South Africa country partner for the 2020 online hackathon. Powered offline grand finale in South Africa.
• Nubian VR (Ghana)supportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2020Ghana country partner for the 2020 online hackathon. Powered offline grand finale in Ghana.
• Ideialab (Mozambique)supportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2020Mozambique country partner for the 2020 online hackathon. Powered offline grand finale in Mozambique.
• SDK Games Africa (Cameroon)supportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2020Cameroon country partner for the 2020 online hackathon. Powered offline grand finale in Cameroon.
• SamsungcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 19 November 2016Partner for the 2016 hackathon, where five teams built for the Samsung Gear VR. Early supporter of Nigeria's first VR hackathon.
• Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Host of Nigeria's first VR hackathon on 19 November 2016 at Co-Creation Hub, Yaba, Lagos. CEO Bosun Tijani served as judge. Provided $1,000 competition prize for Team LeVRn.
• Virtual World SocietysupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2016Partner for the 2016 hackathon, supporting Nigeria's first VR hackathon.
• Asktoks.comminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2016Partner for the 2016 hackathon.
• BlackRhino VRsupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2016Kenya country partner for the hackathon programme. Supported hackathon grand finales and bootcamp activities.

Scale indicators18 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Netinfo: Netinfo is a Tunisia-based technology company that served as Tunisia country partner and powered the offline grand finale in Tunisia during the 2020 hackathon. Comparable as a regional African tech ecosystem partner with XR involvement.
• Virima XR: Virima XR is a Senegal-based XR company that served as Senegal country partner and powered the offline grand finale in Senegal during the 2020 hackathon. Comparable as a regional XR creator in the same continent-wide ecosystem.
• BlackRhino VR: BlackRhino VR is an African XR company that served as Kenya country partner for the ARVR Africa hackathon programme. It operates in the same XR creation and ecosystem-building space but focuses on the Kenyan market.
• 5dVR: 5dVR is an Egypt-based XR company that served as Egypt country partner and powered the offline grand finale in Egypt during the 2020 hackathon. It is comparable as an African XR builder operating in a different national market.
• Ideialab: Ideialab is a Mozambique-based organization that served as Mozambique country partner and powered the offline grand finale in Mozambique during the 2020 hackathon. Comparable as a regional XR ecosystem builder in the same African initiative.
• SDK Games Africa: SDK Games Africa is a Cameroon-based XR company that served as Cameroon country partner and powered the offline grand finale in Cameroon during the 2020 hackathon. Comparable as a regional African XR builder.
• Nubian VR: Nubian VR is a Ghana-based XR company that served as Ghana country partner and powered the offline grand finale in Ghana during the 2020 hackathon. Comparable as a regional African XR creator with similar target audience.
• African Technopreneur: African Technopreneur is a South Africa-based organization that served as South Africa country partner and powered the offline grand finale in South Africa during the 2020 hackathon. Comparable as a regional XR ecosystem builder in Africa.

Direct peers

• Imisi 3D: Imisi 3D is the parent organization of ARVR Africa and an African XR Creation Lab based in Lagos. It operates the Lagos lab that anchors ARVR Africa's programs and is the legal entity behind the initiative, making it the most directly comparable peer.

Emerging players

• Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB): Co-Creation Hub is a Nigerian innovation hub that hosted Nigeria's first VR hackathon in 2016 alongside Imisi 3D. While broader than XR, it operates a comparable community-and-hub model for African tech creators and is a strategic partner of ARVR Africa.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ARVRAfrica
• Facebookfacebook.com/ARVRAfrica
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/arvrafrica
• Instagraminstagram.com/arvrafrica

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

Investments2 records

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

Frequently asked questions about AR/VR Africa