Investors, press members, founders and all those passionate about what’s next in XR are invited to witness the industry’s momentum as leading innovators take the stage for the UnitedXR Europe Start-up Pitch Competition in Brussels.
Jointly organized by AWE and Stereopsia, UnitedXR is Europe’s ultimate gathering for the XR community. This competition provides a unique stage for promising start-ups to pitch live to leading XR investors and compete for the prestigious "Start-up to Watch" Auggie Award.
These eight finalists have been selected from over 130 submissions to represent the best in global XR innovation. They will take the stage on Wednesday, 10 December to share their vision for how XR goes mainstream.he Final Eight: Innovators Defining the Next Era of Immersive Technology
- aneemo ltd (United Kingdom): aneemo is developing an immersive trimodal training platform integrating traditional video tutorials with photorealistic Virtual Humans driven by emotionally intelligent AI for real-time responses to upskill health and social care professionals. This will enable effective, empathic, and trauma-informed support to multiple disadvantaged populations and refine decision-making under pressure in safe, controlled Virtual Reality (VR) settings. aneemo delivers a new benchmark for impactful, socially responsive learning.
- Experience Africa VR (Ghana): Experience Africa is a virtual reality cultural heritage and travel platform by DOBIISON that digitally maps, preserves, and promotes Africa’s natural and cultural heritage through immersive 360° videos, interactive 3D environments, and AI-powered storytelling. Available on web and VR headsets, it allows users to explore iconic sites, festivals, and destinations across Africa anytime, anywhere. Partnering with cultural institutions and tourism agencies, Experience Africa bridges physical and virtual travel—connecting global audiences to the continent’s beauty, traditions, and creativity through cutting-edge immersive technology.
- Freeaim VR Shoes (United Kingdom): Freeaim is at the forefront of wearable robotics technology that enables full body, realistic and limitless movement in virtual reality environments - portable, safe and easy to use VR shoes have many use cases from gaming to professional training & simulation.
- Lemons in the room (Italy): Lemons in the Room is an innovative startup developing digital therapeutics for in-hospital patients to decrease stress, pain, and anxiety, and to improve their overall quality of life. The solution delivers immersive therapeutic experiences through virtual reality, validated in clinical environments and currently used in leading Italian hospitals. Combining neuroscience, design, and technology, Lemons in the room aims to humanize the hospital experience and support both patients and healthcare staff through measurable, evidence-based emotional care.
- LeydenJar (Netherlands): LeydenJar powers the next generation of XR devices. 100% silicon anode batteries deliver up to 50% more energy density and faster charging in a smaller, lighter cell. Benefits are smaller and more comfortable product designs and longer (all-day) usage of the AR/VR devices like smartglasses, without heavy batteries. With 85% lower CO₂ emissions and a scalable manufacturing process, this makes a direct impact on how XR-batteries are made. Currently working with next-generation AR/VR companies to make their new product designs possible with high capacity batteries.
- MetaNeural Inc. (United States): MetaNeural is an AI-powered SaaS XR platform that enables high-risk industries—such as Semiconductors, Oil & Gas, Aerospace, and Energy—to train faster, safer, and at scale. The platform transforms CAD models, 3D scans (incl. 3D Gaussian Splatters), and IoT data into smart digital twins and immersive training scenarios. With no-code authoring tools, subject matter experts can directly build and deploy simulations in a secure environment, eliminating the knowledge-transfer bottleneck and protecting proprietary data. MetaNeural reduces training deployment from months to days, cuts costs, improves workforce readiness, and enhances safety compliance, creating a scalable solution where XR training has previously failed to deliver.
- OLFY (France): OLFY is a pioneering technology that extends the boundaries of virtual reality by integrating the sense of smell into immersive experiences. While traditional VR focuses mainly on visuals and sound, OLFY adds a powerful emotional layer through olfaction, making digital environments feel more natural, engaging and memorable. Its device synchronizes the diffusion of carefully selected and personalized fragrances with real-time VR content, enhancing realism and immersion. By stimulating the brain through a sensory channel closely linked to memory and emotions, OLFY transforms storytelling, training, marketing and therapeutic applications into profoundly richer multi-sensory experiences.
- ZAUBAR UG (Germany): Spatial Agent is a generative, multimodal AI that understands what visitors see, say, and need on site—and instantly orchestrates AR content anchored to the real world. Running on ZAUBAR’s location-based XR platform, it blends computer vision, LLMs, and spatial context to deliver conversational guides that answer questions, trigger 3D overlays, and adapt stories in real time. It deploys as a privacy-compliant SaaS with one-line integration (web, PWA, app clips) and scales from museums and tourism to retail and events—turning static tours and displays into living, personalized experiences at city scale.
The Path to the Startup to Watch Award
On 10 December, these founders will not only deliver their high-stakes pitch but also engage in a dedicated networking session with mentors and investors. The ultimate winner will be selected by a panel of top-tier XR investors, including:
The winner will be recognized on the main stage during the event wrap-up and best in show announcements.
The Builders Program: More Than a Competition
The Start-up Pitch Competition is the crown jewel of the broader UnitedXR Builders Program, an initiative dedicated to early-stage developers, designers, hackers and founders working in XR. This program offers select builders opportunities to take their projects farther including pitches on stage, speed-networking with investors, showcasing their demos in the expo and mentors, with a special Builder Ticket to get the most out of the event.
Join us in Brussels, 8–10 December 2025, to witness these innovators pitch live, explore their groundbreaking demos, and connect with the entrepreneurs driving Europe’s XR adoption.