Dubai, UAE: MetaMinds Group, a Dubai-based pioneer in ‘metaverse as a service’ and spatial web technologies, has appointed former Richemont innovation lead Pedro Lopez-Belmonte as Chief Product Officer. The strategic hire comes as MetaMinds prepares to launch two major platforms in 2025, targeting a significant share of the immersive technology market, which according to Global Market Insights is projected to reach $50 billion by 2025.

Lopez-Belmonte spent over a decade at Richemont Group - parent company to Cartier, Vacheron Constantin, and Montblanc, among others - where he led digital innovation across the Group’s maisons. He was the driving force behind Richemont’s blockchain-powered Digital Product Passports (DPPs), which linked physical luxury goods to secure digital identities. The initiative set new industry standards for authenticity, ownership traceability, and customer trust, and became a benchmark for digital transformation in the luxury sector. At MetaMinds, he will expand this legacy by embracing the spatial web - blending augmented reality, virtual reality, and 3D environments to craft lifelike, immersive experiences that redefine how luxury brands engage with their customers.

“The luxury landscape is evolving beyond product-centricity to become a lifestyle ecosystem driven by experiences,” said Sandra Helou, MetaMinds CEO. “Our vision empowers brands to craft seamless digital-physical narratives—from 3D assets and Digital Passports to immersive online-to-offline touchpoints. This is where the future of luxury engagement lies, and I'm thrilled to have Pedro leading this industrial transformation.”

Lopez-Belmonte’s appointment reflects the strategic pivot luxury brands are making toward experiential storytelling and digital ownership to captivate next-generation consumers. Gen Z and Millennial consumers - who spent nearly $120 billion on video games during the Covid period - expect seamless interaction between physical and digital identities, driving demand for more immersive and tech-integrated brand experiences.

“I’m excited about advancing MetaMinds' vision for the future of luxury engagement,” said Lopez-Belmonte. “As consumer expectations shift toward immersive, always-on engagement, MetaMinds will become the partner of choice for brands navigating this new frontier, helping them elevate their ecommerce and physical journeys into a seamless 360° experience.”

At MetaMinds, Lopez-Belmonte will oversee product strategy, primarily focusing on the launch of VersAI and its first district for the luxury industry. The company is preparing to launch two groundbreaking platforms in 2025:

  • Mersive Platform - A turnkey solution empowering brands to embed immersive experiences throughout the consumer journey. Mersive integrates blockchain, AI and AR into a single ecosystem, creating a new frontier in commerce. This synergy unlocks new revenue streams through verifiable digital assert ownership (Blockchain), maximizes customer lifetime value via intelligent personalization (AI), and boosts sales conversion with engaging experiences (AR).

VersAI - VersAI is an immersive and persistent open world with internal 'districts' tailored to high-value sectors, starting with Luxury. It's essentially the open accessible world in Mersive. The platform offers blockchain-secured virtual boutiques that integrate with brands' physical and digital presence, enabling bespoke phygital experiences, AI-driven personalization, exclusive access through Digital Product Passports, and gamified loyalty programs across virtual and physical touchpoints.

The appointment of Lopez-Belmonte underscores MetaMinds’ ambition to lead the luxury tech revolution by empowering brands to transcend physical limitations with experiences and connect with digital-native consumers through immersive, always-on brand ecosystems.

About MetaMinds

MetaMinds Group, an award-winning metaverse and spatial web technology company at the forefront of developing the foundational platform infrastructure that powers truly immersive experiences. Our proprietary platform serves as the launchpad for a new era of digital engagement leveraging the cutting-edge synergy of blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and extended reality (XR) to forge new pathways for brands and consumers to connect through gamification and deeply engaging immersive experiences.