An accelerator program to foster Extended Reality (XR) firms in the nation has been launched by India’s MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) Startup Hub in collaboration with Meta.
Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and other machine-human interface technologies are together referred to as Extended Reality or XR. The accelerator also aims to cover new-age technologies, such as the metaverse, mixed reality (MR), and computer-mediated reality.
“This collaboration is part of the government’s efforts for skilling in emerging and future technologies,” stated MeitY.
According to the ministry, India will undoubtedly play a crucial role in developing the metaverse, citing the country’s enormous talent pool of developers and innovators. India is a huge source of talent, innovation, and technology that can meet the growing need for digital goods.
MeitY Startup Hub (MSH), dedicated to fostering technology, innovation, startups, and creating intellectual properties across various industries, is the initiative behind the collaboration. There are now 473 incubators and 3,161 startups registered with the MSH.
The announcement is a part of the government’s initiatives to encourage the development of cutting-edge technologies across the country. Gandhinagar, Bengaluru, and Gurugram now have centers of excellence for the Internet of Things as part of this initiative. Also, the government has built research and innovation centers for several industries, including blockchain, VFX, VR, and gaming.
To support regional businesses, the Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) formed a cooperation with US semiconductor behemoth Qualcomm in April. Additionally, MeitY partnered with Google to develop safety initiatives for Indian customers and support homegrown entrepreneurs in creating apps.
Numerous companies with an emphasis on augmented and virtual reality have their headquarters in India, including the gaming company JetSynthesys, the AR-based learning platform Practically, and the domestic producer of mixed-reality 3D glasses, AjnaLens, among others.
The ministry declared earlier that it would offer all essential assistance to companies, especially those in the development stage. MeitY intends to accelerate and support more than 10,000 entrepreneurs over the next five to six years through its GENESIS (Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups) program, the majority of which will come from Tier II and Tier III cities.
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