# Herman Narula

> Herman Narula is the London-based British entrepreneur, computer scientist and author who co-founded Improbable in 2012 and serves as its CEO. His work spans large-scale multiplayer infrastructure, MSquared and virtual-world economies, alongside a venture-building strategy covering AI, Web3 and the metaverse. He wrote Virtual Society, published in 2022, and personally began coding Bolter, an AI messaging venture unveiled by Improbable in September 2026.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Improbable
- **Organizations:** Improbable, MSquared
- **From:** Delhi, India
- **Nationality:** British
- **Education:** Computer science degree, Girton College, University of Cambridge, Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School
- **Known for:** Co-founded and led Improbable from 2012., Led Improbable through a $502 million SoftBank-led financing in 2017., Authored Virtual Society: The Metaverse and the New Frontiers of Human Experience (2022).

## Career timeline

- **2012** — Co-founded Improbable with Rob Whitehead; Peter Lipka joined the founding team.
- **2015** — Improbable secured a $20 million investment led by Andreessen Horowitz.
- **2017** — Improbable raised $502 million in a SoftBank-led round and reached a valuation above $1 billion.
- **2019** — Delivered the TED talk The transformative power of video games.
- **2022** — Published Virtual Society; Improbable established MSquared and supported the Otherside First Trip event.
- **2023** — Improbable transitioned to a venture builder model and recorded its first annual profit.
- **2026** — Improbable unveiled Bolter, a project Narula began coding himself, with $10 million from its own capital.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and led Improbable from 2012.
- Led Improbable through a $502 million SoftBank-led financing in 2017.
- Authored Virtual Society: The Metaverse and the New Frontiers of Human Experience (2022).
- Spoke at TED in 2019 and DLD Munich in 2023.
- Led Improbable as it reported its first annual profit, £11 million for 2023, including the effects of divestments.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — On 10 September, Improbable announced Bolter, an AI-native messaging platform backed by $10 million of its own capital and launched in invite-only beta; Narula said he originally coded it as a personal project.
- **2025-07** — In a PocketGamer.biz interview, Narula discussed lessons from Improbable’s early years, Somnia and the difficulty of creating a hit game.

## Links

- Website: https://www.improbable.io/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/herman-narula-2b1a8267/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/HermanNarula

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/herman-narula
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21