MeitY, Meta launch programme to support 40 startups

The Minry of Electronics and IT’s (MeitY’s) Startup Hub Tuesday signed an agreement with social media giant Meta to launch an accelerator programme to offer grants to startups building services for the metaverse, a digital world which is a combination of virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) accessed through a browser or headset.
The programme will support 40 early-stage startups working in extended reality (XR) technologies with a grant of Rs 20 lakh each. At first 80 innovators will be shortled to attend a bootcamp, out of which, a total of 16 innovators will be provided grants of Rs 20 lakh each to aid them in developing prototypes.
The accelerator programme will be implemented four institutions – International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad;  AIC SMU Technology Business Incubation Foundation, Sikkim; Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council, Gujarat; and Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer at IIT Delhi.
“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,” said Miner of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar.