MeitY Start-Up Hub, an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Meta (previously known as Facebook) have partnered to launch an accelerator program to support 40 early-stage start-ups that are working with extended reality (XR) technologies. The program will also provide a grant of Rs 20 lakh each to these start-ups that are working in sectors such as education, learning and skills, healthcare gaming and entertainment, agri-tech, and climate action amongst others.
The program will also aid in the building of skills and capabilities of other new-age technologies such as Metaverse, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR). As part of the program, initially, 80 innovators will be selected for a boot camp, of this 16 innovators will be given a grant of Rs 20 lakh for research and development of their Minimum Viable Product/ Prototypes.
Rajeev Chandrashekhar, the Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology said that the program aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making India ‘Technade’ in the next 10 years by providing opportunities to young Indians. Meta’s XR Programs and Research Fund will invest $50 million in the program and external program.
He said, “It is also an important milestone in the area of Metaverse which is an important part of the 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.”
“Young Indian startups, especially from tier 2 and 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,” he added.
The program will be implemented by four institutions namely the International Institute of Information Technology, Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC), and Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT), IIT Delhi.