Virbela is a virtual-world company, founded in 2012 by organizational psychologists 📝Alex Howland and Ron Rembisz, that builds immersive 3D campuses and offices where people work, learn, meet, and train remotely. Its products include custom virtual worlds, browser-based access through Virbela Go, and AI-powered training simulations for leadership development, sold to companies, universities, and event organizers.
Virbela grew out of a San Diego project funded by a $1.75 million innovation grant from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), after early prototypes suggested learners behaved more authentically in immersive environments than in classrooms or on video. eXp World Holdings acquired the company in 2018, and Virbela's platform became the virtual campus for eXp Realty's fully remote brokerage of tens of thousands of agents. Its avatar-based approach places it in the lineage of user-inhabited virtual worlds such as 📝Second Life, applied to enterprise work rather than social play. In January 2025 the founders, led by Howland as CEO and Erik Hill as CTO, announced they had reacquired the business from eXp (Virbela).