The growth mechanisms of imogolite-like aluminogermanate nanotubes have been examined at various stages of their formation. The accurate determination of the nucleation stage was examined using a combination of local- (XAS at the Ge-Kedge and 27AlNMR) and semilocal scale technique (in situ SAXS). For the first time, a model is proposed for the precursors of the nanotubular structure and consist in rooftile-shaped particles, up to 5 nm in size, with ca. 26% of Ge vacancies and varying curvatures. These precursors assemble to form short nanotubes/nanorings observed during the aging process. The final products are most probably obtained by an edge-edge assembly of these short nanotube segments.