The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), through MeitY Startup Hub (MSH), announced the launch of an accelerator programme in collaboration with Meta to support and accelerate extended reality (XR) technology startups across India. The initiative, XR Startup Program, focuses on skilling and building technological capabilities for the metaverse, and will help shape the ecosystem for these emerging technologies, including augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics and information technology, and skill development and entrepreneurship, said, “It is an important day in terms of achieving Prime Minister’s vision of making the next 10 years as India’s Techade – full of opportunities for young Indians. It is also an important milestone in area of Metaverse which is an important part of emerging future of the internet. I look forward to the collaboration with Meta and I hope it provides the necessary impetus towards fuelling the growth of investments in future technologies in line with the government vision for making India a trillion-dollar economy by 2025. According to Prime Minister’s Digital India vision, it is clear that India is no longer going to be a consumer of technology but become a leader in producing emerging technologies. Young Indian Startups, especially from tier 2/3 cities, will play a significant role in emerging tech areas like Web 3.0, blockchain, AI, metaverse, etc. and will shape the future of technology and the internet for India and the world.”
Meanwhile, Joel Kaplan, vice president, Global Policy, Meta, said, “India will play a pivotal role in defining future technologies. Decisions and investments made here in India now shape global discussions on how technology can deliver more economic opportunity and better outcomes for people. It is critical that we help to create an ecosystem that will enable India’s tech startups and innovators to build the foundations of the metaverse. India is one of the most vibrant market due to its tech talent, entrepreneurial spirit, fast-growing startup ecosystem. Technologists from tier 2/3 cities in India will shape the future of metaverse.”
The innovators will be provided support to upscale from the research and development (R&D) phase to developing workable products and services. At first 80 innovators will be shortlisted to attend a bootcamp, out of which, a total of 16 innovators will be provided grants of Rs 2 million each and further support to help them develop minimum viable product (MVP)/ prototypes.
The XR Startup Program will be implemented by four institutions – International Institute of Information Technology – Hyderabad Foundation, Hyderabad, Telangana (CIE IIIT-H); AIC SMU Technology Business Incubation Foundation (AIC-SMUTBI), Rangpo, Sikkim; Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC), Ahmedabad, Gujarat and Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT), IIT Delhi, New Delhi. These institutions will strategically enable the startups across the length and breadth of the country creating a pan India movement in the XR technology space.
