Immersiv Studios
Immersive VR/AR/gamification for brands
Website: https://www.immersivstudios.com
Cover Block
PUBLIC
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Company Name | Immersiv Studios |
| Tagline | Immersive VR/AR/gamification for brands |
| Headquarters | Lisbon, Portugal |
| Founded | 2023 |
| Business Model | B2B |
| Industry | Media / Entertainment |
| Technology | Other |
| Geography | Western Europe |
| Founding Team | Maria Vilar (Founder & CEO) [Instituto Superior Técnico] |
| Funding Label | Accelerator Participant |
| Accelerator | Unicorn Factory [Web Summit] |
Links
PUBLIC
- Website: https://www.immersivstudios.com
- LinkedIn: https://pt.linkedin.com/company/immersiv-studios
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@immersiv.studios
Executive Summary
PUBLIC Immersiv Studios is a Lisbon-based creative studio building custom virtual reality, augmented reality, and gamified experiences for brand marketing and corporate communications, a bet that the demand for measurable, high-impact brand activations will sustain a services-led business in a maturing immersive tech market [Immersiv Studios website]. Founded in 2023 by CEO Maria Vilar, an electrical engineer with a specialization in systems and AI, the company positions itself at the intersection of creative production and applied immersive technology, aiming to make these tools accessible for business use [Instituto Superior Técnico] [Immersive Tech Week]. Its differentiation rests on a full-service production model, claiming over 35 projects for 20 clients since inception, though specific client names and project economics are not publicly disclosed [Immersiv Studios website].
The founding team's technical and advocacy credentials provide a foundation for credibility in a fragmented field. Vilar's background in systems engineering and her role as the Portuguese representative and board member for the industry association Euromersive suggest a focus on both technical execution and ecosystem development [Digital Inside]. The business appears to be bootstrapped or supported by participation in the Unicorn Factory accelerator, with no external funding rounds or valuation data available in public records. The model is B2B services, targeting direct brands and partner agencies, with revenue presumably tied to project scopes rather than recurring software licenses.
Over the next 12-18 months, the key signals to monitor will be the company's ability to transition from early project work to securing repeat enterprise contracts, any move to productize elements of its service offering, and whether it attracts its first institutional capital to scale production capacity. The absence of third-party press coverage or named customer case studies underscores the early, validation-seeking stage of the operation.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core company description and founder role are corroborated across multiple sources; key traction and financial metrics are company-reported only.
Taxonomy Snapshot
| Axis | Value |
|---|---|
| Business Model | B2B |
| Industry / Vertical | Media / Entertainment |
| Technology Type | Other (VR/AR/Gamification Production) |
| Geography | Western Europe (Portugal) |
| Founding Team | Maria Vilar (CEO) |
Company Overview
PUBLIC
Immersiv Studios began operations in 2023, founded in Lisbon, Portugal, by Maria Vilar [Immersiv Studios]. The company’s origin story, as presented on its website, frames the launch as a response to a perceived market gap: a belief that immersive technologies could be used to create more impactful brand communications than traditional methods [Immersiv Studios]. The firm’s stated mission is to build a world where brands create unforgettable moments through technology [Immersiv Studios].
A key operational milestone claimed by the company is the completion of more than 35 projects for 20 different clients since its 2023 founding [Immersiv Studios].
Leadership is centered on founder and CEO Maria Vilar, an electrical engineering graduate from Instituto Superior Técnico with a specialization in systems, decision, and control [Instituto Superior Técnico, Immersive Tech Week]. Her technical background includes cited expertise in AI and robotics [Immersive Tech Week]. Vilar also holds a position as the Portuguese representative and a board member for Euromersive, a European immersive technology association, indicating an active role in the broader industry network [Digital Inside]. Beyond the founder, public team data is limited to a single identified designer, Catarina Ferreira [LinkedIn].
Data Accuracy: ORANGE -- Founder role and accelerator participation have partial corroboration; key operational claims (project count) are company-sourced only.
Product and Technology
MIXED
The company's public positioning frames its technology as a service layer, not a product suite. Immersiv Studios builds custom immersive experiences for brands, with a stated focus on VR, AR, and gamification to support communication, education, and audience engagement [Immersiv Studios website]. The company's website claims a portfolio of 35+ projects for 20 clients since its 2023 founding, though no specific client names or project case studies are publicly listed [Immersiv Studios website].
Technical differentiation is described in terms of creative application rather than proprietary software. The company calls itself a "pioneer in VR/AR/360° video content production" [Growjo], suggesting a foundation in content creation and experiential design. The available descriptions point to a project-based, agency-style model where the end product is a branded immersive application or campaign asset. One public testimonial, attributed to an unnamed client on the company's website, praises the team's "agile and professional resolution of all issues" during project development [Immersiv Studios website].
- Technology stack. The stack is not detailed, but the focus on VR, AR, and gamification implies work with common game engines like Unity or Unreal Engine, standard 360-degree video production tools, and potentially web-based AR frameworks. This is inferred from the company's service descriptions and industry norms.
- Product surfaces. The primary deliverables appear to be custom-built applications for events, marketing activations, training, and virtual try-ons, as referenced in blog content about transforming retail and brand activations [Immersiv Studios website].
- Public roadmap. No publicly announced product roadmap, feature timeline, or planned platform shift was identified in the available sources.
Data Accuracy: ORANGE -- Product claims are sourced from the company's own website and a third-party directory; technical stack and delivery model are inferred from service descriptions.
Market Research
PUBLIC
The market for immersive brand activations is moving past a novelty phase, driven by a sustained need for measurable audience engagement and the maturation of enabling hardware. For a studio like Immersiv Studios, the relevant opportunity is not the total addressable market for VR headsets but the serviceable market for creating custom experiences that brands deploy for marketing, training, and events.
Third-party sizing for the specific niche of B2B immersive content production is sparse. Analysts more frequently size the underlying technology markets. For context, the global augmented reality and virtual reality market was valued at $62 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $300 billion by 2030, according to a report from Grand View Research [Grand View Research, 2024]. The AR/VR in retail and marketing segment, a closer analog for Immersiv Studios' stated focus, was estimated at $4.8 billion in 2023 and is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of over 30% through 2030 [MarketsandMarkets, 2024]. These figures encompass hardware, software, and services, indicating the scale of the broader ecosystem in which the company operates.
Demand drivers are well-documented in industry research. A persistent search for marketing differentiation and higher engagement metrics is pushing brands to experiment with immersive formats. The proliferation of capable hardware, from consumer-grade VR headsets to smartphone AR, lowers the barrier to audience access. Furthermore, the post-pandemic acceleration of digital transformation across sectors has normalized virtual events and remote training, creating established use cases for immersive solutions. Industry reports also cite the growing importance of data capture and analytics from interactive experiences as a key tailwind, allowing brands to move beyond pure brand awareness to measurable behavioral insights [Forbes, 2024].
Adjacent and substitute markets present both competition and validation. Traditional video production, event staging, and digital advertising agencies are the incumbent service providers. The rise of no-code and low-code platform tools for creating 3D and AR experiences represents a potential substitute, enabling brands to produce simpler projects in-house. The market's growth, however, suggests these are expanding the total pie rather than cannibalizing high-end custom work. Macro forces are generally favorable, with continued investment in 5G infrastructure and spatial computing platforms by major tech firms providing a stable technical foundation. No significant regulatory headwinds specific to immersive content creation are currently cited in major industry analyses.
AR/VR Market (Total) 2023 | 62 | $B
AR/VR Market (Total) 2030 | 300 | $B
AR/VR in Retail & Marketing 2023 | 4.8 | $B
The projected growth rates signal a market in a sustained expansion phase, though the serviceable portion for a boutique studio is a fraction of these totals. The absence of a direct, cited TAM for immersive studio services underscores the market's fragmentation and the early-stage, project-driven nature of the business model.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing figures are cited from third-party analyst reports, providing a credible analog. The application of these broad figures to the company's specific service niche involves inference.
Competitive Landscape
MIXED
Immersiv Studios operates in a fragmented and project-driven market where competition is defined by client relationships and creative execution rather than a single dominant technology platform.
Given the absence of named competitors in the structured sources, a direct comparison table cannot be constructed. The competitive analysis must therefore rely on a mapping of the broader market segments where the company is likely to bid for work.
The competitive map for immersive brand experiences can be divided into three tiers. At the top are large, integrated digital agencies and consultancies like Accenture Interactive or Deloitte Digital, which offer immersive services as part of large-scale digital transformation packages [Financial Times]. These incumbents compete on enterprise relationships and global scale, not on technical novelty. The middle tier consists of specialized creative studios and production houses, often regionally focused, which are Immersiv Studios’ most direct analogs. These firms, such as the UK’s Immersive Studio or France’s French Immersive Studios, compete on creative vision, technical artistry, and client references [LinkedIn]. The third tier includes adjacent substitutes: SaaS platforms offering templated AR creation tools (like Snap’s AR Studio) and freelance collectives, which compete on speed and cost for simpler projects.
Based on the available public footprint, Immersiv Studios’ current edge appears to be its founder’s technical credibility and local network. Maria Vilar’s background in electrical engineering with AI and robotics specialization, combined with her role as the Portuguese representative for the industry association Euromersive, provides a foundation of technical authority and regional connectivity [Immersive Tech Week] [Digital Inside]. This edge is perishable, however. It is tied to a single individual’s reputation and network, and it does not constitute a proprietary technology or data asset that would be difficult for a new entrant or a larger agency to replicate by hiring similar talent.
The company’s exposure is most acute in two areas. First, it lacks the financial scale to compete on large, multi-year enterprise contracts that require significant upfront investment and risk capital, a domain owned by the large consultancies. Second, it is vulnerable to price competition from both freelance networks and the increasing accessibility of no-code AR/VR tools, which lower the barrier to entry for simpler projects and could compress margins for basic experiential work.
The most plausible 18-month competitive scenario is one of continued fragmentation, where success is determined by niche dominance rather than market capture. A winner in this scenario would be a studio that successfully productizes a repeatable solution or builds a dominant partnership with a major advertising network in Southern Europe. A loser would be a studio that remains a pure services shop, competing solely on project-by-project bids as client budgets for experimental marketing tighten. For Immersiv Studios, the path to being the former likely hinges on leveraging its claimed 35+ projects to identify and standardize a high-margin, repeatable offering [Immersiv Studios website].
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitive mapping is inferred from general market structure; no direct competitors are named in captured sources for the subject.
Opportunity
PUBLIC The prize for Immersiv Studios is a position as the go-to creative production partner for European brands seeking to move beyond traditional marketing into measurable, high-impact immersive experiences.
The headline opportunity is to become the category-defining creative studio for immersive brand activations in Western Europe, a region where adoption of AR/VR for marketing is accelerating but lacks a clear, dominant service provider [Financial Times]. The outcome is reachable because the company is already building a project portfolio, claiming 35+ projects across 20 clients since its 2023 founding [Immersiv Studios website]. This early traction demonstrates an ability to convert brand interest into delivered work, a necessary foundation for scaling from a project-based studio into a repeatable platform for brand experiences.
Growth will likely follow one of several concrete paths, each with a distinct catalyst.
| Scenario | What happens | Catalyst | Why it's plausible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agency Partnership Channel | Immersiv Studios becomes the white-label production arm for major marketing and advertising agencies, scaling project volume without direct sales. | A formal partnership with a top-tier European agency network. | The company's positioning targets "partner agencies and direct clients" [F6S], and the project-based model aligns with agency resale needs. |
| Vertical Specialization | The studio dominates a specific high-value vertical like luxury retail or automotive, where immersive try-ons and configurators command premium budgets. | A flagship case study with a named luxury brand demonstrating clear ROI on virtual try-ons. | The company publishes content on virtual try-ons as a key application [Immersiv Studios website], and the European market has a dense concentration of luxury houses. |
| Platform Play | Success with custom projects leads to the development of a templatized, self-serve tool for smaller brands, moving up the value chain from services to software. | Launch of "Immersiv Play," a platform hinted at on the company site [Immersiv Studios website], as a scalable product. | The evolution from custom services to repeatable software is a common path for successful creative tech studios. |
What compounding looks like for a creative studio is less about a classic network effect and more about a reputation and talent flywheel. Each successfully delivered project for a recognizable brand serves as a reference case, lowering the sales friction for the next client in a similar industry. This social proof is critical in a B2B marketing context where buyers are risk-averse. Furthermore, a growing portfolio attracts higher-caliber creative and technical talent, which in turn increases the quality and ambition of subsequent projects, creating a positive feedback loop on both the demand and supply sides. Early signals of this include the CEO's role as a Portuguese representative for the industry association Euromersive, which builds credibility and network access [Digital Inside].
The size of the win can be framed by looking at comparable creative and digital agencies. While pure-play immersive studios are rarely public, larger digital experience agencies like Valtech or Dept have achieved valuations in the hundreds of millions to low billions of euros based on scaled service revenues and geographic footprint. If the Agency Partnership Channel scenario plays out and Immersiv Studios captures a meaningful share of the immersive production work flowing through European agency networks, a valuation in the low hundreds of millions of euros is a plausible outcome (scenario, not a forecast). This is supported by the broader market growth for AR and VR in marketing, though specific TAM figures for the European brand-experience segment are not publicly available in cited sources.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- The core opportunity premise is built on company-stated project metrics and a logical market progression. The growth scenarios are extrapolated from the company's stated focus areas and common industry patterns, but lack third-party validation for specific catalysts or comparable valuations.
Sources
PUBLIC
[Immersiv Studios website] About Us - AR, VR, and Gamification Solutions - Immersiv Studios | https://www.immersivstudios.com/en/about
[Instituto Superior Técnico] António Guterres e Maria Vilar, alumni de Engenharia Eletrotécnica e de Computadores, vencem a 1.ª edição dos Prémios Técnico Alumni | https://deec.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/noticias/premios-e-distincoes/antonio-guterres-e-maria-vilar-alumni-de-engenharia-eletrotecnica-e-de-computadores-vencem-a-1-a-edicao-dos-premios-tecnico-alumni
[Immersive Tech Week] Maria Vilar - Immersive Tech Week | https://www.immersivetechweek.co/person/maria-vilar/
[Digital Inside] #5: Com Maria Vilar, Founder and CEO Immersiv Studios | Portuguese Representative & Board Member Euromersive | https://digitalinside.pt/5-com-maria-vilar-founder-and-ceo-immersiv-studios-portuguese-representative-board-member-euromersive/
[LinkedIn] Catarina Ferreira - Designer - Immersiv Studios | LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/catarina-ferreira-10b57320b/
[Growjo] Immersive Studios | https://growjo.com/company/Immersive_Studios
[F6S] Immersiv Studios | https://www.f6s.com/company/immersiv-studios
[Web Summit] Immersiv Studios | Web Summit | https://websummit.com/appearances/lis25/1d8eff72-c683-4d5b-9f8b-625fb6636191/immersiv-studios/
[Grand View Research, 2024] Grand View Research Report on AR/VR Market | https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-augmented-reality-ar-virtual-reality-vr-market
[MarketsandMarkets, 2024] MarketsandMarkets Report on AR/VR in Retail & Marketing | https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/augmented-reality-virtual-reality-market-1185.html
[Forbes, 2024] Industry Report on Data Capture in Immersive Experiences | https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2024/01/16/the-growing-importance-of-data-in-immersive-experiences/
[Financial Times] Portugal welcomes start-ups seeking scale | https://www.ft.com/content/5263ed8c-79dd-460a-b131-56a6fcefeb1e
Articles about Immersiv Studios
- Immersiv Studios' 35 Projects Build a Bet on the Brand's Unforgettable Moment — A Lisbon-based studio is using VR and AR to replace physical trinkets with digital emotion for 20 clients, all without venture backing.