IIIT Hyderabad Foundation (CIE) has been selected as an implementation partner for the XR startup programme of MeitY Startup Hub (MSH).
It is one of the four such partners selected from across the country by the Union Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology and Meta for the programme, which aims to support and accelerate XR technology startups. Skilling and building technological capabilities for Metaverse as well as shaping the ecosystem for emerging technologies, including AR and VR, are sought to be achieved through the programme.
The XR startup programme will have an accelerator and a grand challenge. The focus will be on startups in gaming and entertainment that use XR technologies.
IIIT-H in a release said XR technologies are set to redefine the entertainment industry. Users can join virtual concerts or host virtual parties. Movies can be made much more immersive with the XR technologies. Sports broadcasting can be completely reinvented with people being able to actually visit stadiums virtually. The use cases of this technology go much beyond what we can imagine.
Classrooms can be brought to life with simulations of what is being taught and social media can go as far as letting people meet in the virtual world and allow first person interaction with each other, it said.
The Accelerator component will support 40 early-stage startups working in XR technologies with a grant of ₹20 lakh each. The Grand Challenge will encourage early-stage innovators in sectors like education, learning and skills, healthcare, gaming and entertainment, agritech and climate action as well as tourism and sustainability. For the grand challenge, the innovators will get support to upscale from the R&D phase to developing workable products and services.
Eighty innovators are to be shortlisted to attend a bootcamp, of whom 16 will be provided grants of ₹20 lakh each further support to help develop Minimum Viable Product (MVP)/prototypes.
“The programme will give boost to early stage companies since they will get help from established counterparts through funding and mentoring,” said Anubhav Tiwari, Head DeepTech and MedTech Incubator, CIE. AIC SMU Technology Business Incubation Foundation, Rangpo, Sikkim; Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council, Ahmedabad; and Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT), IIT Delhi are the other implementation partners.
