UAE based Blockchain, VR, NFT enabled physical theme park builder has received millions of dollars in investment from KSA’s sovereign fund backed Riyadh Seasons. The majority of the $55million raised came from Riyadh Seasons. U.S. based Galaxy Interactive, venture capital firm focused on gaming, led the latest funding round, which includes other international investors.

Founded by Alexander Heller in 2020, Hyperspace is building physical theme park attractions that are blockchain-enabled and extended reality-native, with it making use of cutting-edge emerging technologies, spatial compute layers, real life virtual effects, and non-fungible token (NFT) projects

Heller sees them as physical front ends to the metaverse, with visitors to these venues making use of the developed technologies to access everything from surreal-istic playgrounds and immersive neighborhoods, to virtual production stages containing holographic super cars and high-end digital fashion.

HyperSpace had raised $11 million in equity in 2021 allowing it to scale its operations. At the time Heller noted, “In a world where blockchain, spatial computing, digital identity, and growth in the gaming and social media sector took meteoric steps in 2021, HyperSpace has rooted itself in building towards a future where these trends find place in the amusement attractions industry.”

In Q3 of 2023 Hyperscale will launch in Dubai Mall the House of Hype after it successful launched its first Immersive AYA space in Wafi Mall where nearly half a million enthusiasts paying $34 to enter its 40,000-square-foot park.

According to the Financial Times article KSA Riyadh Season, a government-backed entertainment initiative under the auspices of the sovereign wealth fund, has invested the majority of the $55mn of debt and equity raised by HyperSpace.  Riyadh Season is led by Turki al-Sheikh, who chairs the General Entertainment Authority.

HyperSpace is launching House of Hype in Riyadh in November.  The Riyadh-based company plans to expand in Saudi Arabia and beyond to the US. “There’s a big focus on expanding the business” to the rest of the world, Heller says in the interview with FT.

He adds, “Riyadh was a uniquely attractive partner, Heller said, given the importance of shopping centers to Saudis, who are also highly engaged in social media. HyperSpace is keen to be behind the push to attract consumers back to shopping malls, which have been hit by a rise in online shopping. Our parks adapt the best ingredients of video games, social media, and Web3 culture; translating them into future forward entertainment attractions.”

UAE based Blockchain enterprise, Shaariq.com, an end-to-end real estate platform of Vision Tech has partnered with Pakistan-headquartered JK&S Developers, a real estate arm of the renowned Saif Group. to facilitate sales in JK&S Developers’ highly anticipated project D.I. Khan New City.

Shaariq.com will leverage its enterprise blockchain capabilities to ensure secure, transparent, and seamless transactions. Shaariq.com will also ensure D.I. Khan New City becomes an early mover in adopting blockchain at an enterprise level. Shaariq.com will create a digital twin of the project in the metaverse to enable efficient urban planning and optimize the delivery of public services such as healthcare and groceries. NFT linked transactions on the blockchain will bring greater security, transferability, and future readiness. D.I. Khan New City will also characterize AR-VR and AI applications on multiple fronts.

Dubbed the “Crown of Pakistan”, the D.I. Khan New City is a hybrid development in Saiduwali, Paharpur, an area with close proximity to Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, and Balochistan. The development, which spans an expansive area of 4.1 million sq. m, is valued at a whopping $233 million U.S., making it one of the most ambitious projects of its kind in Pakistan.

Rajab Ali Virani, CEO of Vision Tech stated,  “Shaariq.com ventured into Pakistan with a grand vision: Enhancing transactional efficiency and reducing the trust deficit by leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as blockchain. D.I. Khan New City is the ideal avenue to turn that vision into reality. We are determined to make this project an archetype of Pakistan’s real estate excellence while reinforcing our competitive edge in tech-enabled services.”

 “The Saif Group has nearly a hundred years of multi-industrial pedigree in Pakistan. At every juncture, we have exemplified the latest innovations of the time. D.I. Khan New City is a totem of our future-proof strategy and a legacy of our people-centric worldview. The MoU with Shaariq.com complements both these priorities,” said Jehangir Saifullah Khan, Chairman, JK&S Developers. 

Vision Tech is planning an expansion into African countries, where, through Shaariq.com, it intends to digitalize land records with the support of local authorities.

Qatar University has signed an MOU with Metavisionaries, a community of change makers, thought leaders and industry experts who are committed to providing access to the space economy and frontier technologies to build socially inclusive competency and human capacity required to meet immediate and future sustainability challenges.

Metavisionaries is offering MetaEduVersity and space campus the Metaship which utilizes web3 and the metaverse combined with our physical SPACE INNOVATION LABS with our partners ICE Cubes.

Qatar University while espousing to be the first university in the metaverse, will actually be joining 10 other US based universities who will be offering metaverse experience in the fall of 2022. Prior to Qatar University announcement, ten universities are getting set to launch their own metaversities this fall to provide students and professors with a “digital twin” replica campus in which to attend courses, using a Meta Quest 2 virtual reality headset provided through a partnership with VictoryXR and Meta.

The announcement said students at Morehouse College in Georgia, the University of Kansas School of Nursing, New Mexico State University, South Dakota State University, Florida A&M University, West Virginia University, Southwestern Oregon Community College, California State University, Alabama A&M University and University of Maryland Global Campus will be able to use the technology to attend courses synchronously from anywhere.

In addition the University of Tokyo also announced it will be launching a wide range of educational programs in the metaverse in 2022. The international Space University, also entered the metaverse with Metavisionaries in the Metaship for an onsite lecture. 

As for Qatar University, Dr. Omar Al Ansari Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Qatar University, was sent to the International Space Station through Metavisonaries’ partners, ICE Cubes and Malleth II Program in which he stated, “I am proud to be inspiring our next generation with Metavisionaries by bringing space curricula to the masses and providing them with immersive learning experiences to prepare them to create sustainable future and a better world for all.”

During her keynote speech that took place in the metaverse spaceship, Dean Sobh said: “As the National leading university in Qatar and top ranked in the region, we should take the lead in pushing boundaries and keep reinventing our purpose, curricula and pedagogies to remain relevant and prepare our graduate for success in an increasingly turbulent, uncertain and challenging environment. Web 3.0 will play an ever-increasing role in education in the next few decades. When the history of the educational metaverse is written, we would like to be cited as one of the ground-breaking universities.”

She added that the College of Business and Economics is partnering with Metavisionaries, Ice cubes, Space applications and other global partners to launch a Global Space Sustainability challenge that would bring together students from different disciplines and universities around the globe in the aim to come up with innovative solutions that tackle pressing issues related to one or more areas of Sustainable Development Goals.

“We need to reimagine business and should no longer make trade-offs between profit and advancing sustainability. We can achieve synergies between the two and leverage space to help achieve that,” said Dean Sobh.

Wasim Ahmed, CEO for Metavisionaries, said: “The pandemic accelerated the rate of technology adoption in the education sector. Web 3.0 and the Metaverse are paving the way for education to be reimagined. In that sense, the partnership with Qatar University showcases the university’s determination to play a leading role in shaping and enabling the transformation to prepare future generations for the future of work.”