How XR Agency recruited, trained, and retained a global builder community for a cutting-edge AI/blockchain protocol — in 90 days.
CASE STUDY · DEVREL
MeTTa — the cognitive architecture powering SingularityNET's next-generation AGI stack — had a fundamental adoption problem. The language was powerful and genuinely novel, but it sat behind a steep learning curve with almost no onboarding infrastructure, no builder community, and no clear path from "curious developer" to "active contributor."
The protocol team needed more than a tutorial page. They needed an entire ecosystem: recruited builders, structured learning, supported projects, and the infrastructure to retain them after the first cohort ended.
"XR Agency didn't just run a hackathon — they built the scaffolding our ecosystem will grow on for the next three years."
— MeTTa Protocol Team
THE APPROACH
XR Agency designed a full-stack ecosystem architecture: recruitment-to-retention in a single integrated program. Rather than a one-off event, we built a repeatable system the MeTTa team could run independently after our engagement ended.
The program ran across three phases over 90 days, with XR Agency embedded throughout — not just as consultants, but as active program operators.
PROGRAM STRUCTURE
Custom curriculum covering MeTTa syntax, cognitive architecture concepts, and SingularityNET's broader ecosystem. Live sessions + async video. All cohort members onboarded to Discord, GitHub, and dev environment within 48 hours.
Builders formed teams around 5 pre-seeded challenge tracks. Weekly office hours with MeTTa core devs. XR Agency DevRel team provided daily async support across Discord channels.
Structured peer review sessions, 1:1 protocol team feedback, and mid-program pivot support for teams that needed to reframe their approach. Drop-out rate: <12%.
Public demo day with 400+ registered attendees. Winning teams received grants, protocol integrations, and 6-month mentorship commitments. Non-winning teams received explicit next-step recommendations.
THE RESULTS
IMPACT
At the conclusion of the program, MeTTa had a functioning developer community self-sustaining in Discord, 3 active GitHub repos with regular contributions, and a defined pathway for the next cohort — all operated by community members rather than protocol staff.
XR Agency produced a full ecosystem playbook documenting every recruitment channel, curriculum module, support workflow, and retention trigger — giving the MeTTa team the infrastructure to run future cohorts independently.
WHAT'S NEXT
The MeTTa ecosystem program was designed as the first of three planned cohorts. With the builder infrastructure now in place, future cohorts can focus on deeper technical specialisation and geographic expansion into underrepresented developer markets — particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.
XR Agency continues as an infrastructure advisor to the MeTTa team, supporting cohort 2 design and the broader SingularityNET developer strategy.
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