Topia is a browser-based platform for building interactive virtual worlds in which people meet through spatial audio and video. Daniel Liebeskind founded it in 2020. Its products include SchoolSpace, a virtual campus for K-12 schools; MetaverseCloud, an enterprise platform for virtual headquarters, onboarding, training, events, and social experiences; and a real-time software development kit for developers building their own applications.
Liebeskind built Topia to recreate online the chance encounters of Burning Man. As avatars move closer together in a world, their video and audio fade in, so conversations start the way they do in a physical room, without scheduled calls or breakout rooms. In May 2021 Topia raised a $5 million seed round led by Seven Seven Six, Alexis Ohanian's venture firm, and launched a marketplace where artists and designers could earn money from the worlds they build. Since then the company has moved toward education and enterprise customers, and SchoolSpace won a 2026 CODiE Award for best virtual learning solution. Topia runs in an ordinary web browser, with no downloaded client or special hardware.
I'm a CFO advisor to Topia. Use the arrow keys to walk your avatar over to someone and you hear and see them better; it's so simple, I have to wonder why others from 📝Second Life didn't see it sooner.