News Update

Meta Announces $250,000 Fund to Fuel Mixed Reality Innovation in India

• ByStartupStory     |    June 29, 2023

Meta, on Wednesday, unveiled a new Mixed Reality (MR) program in India, offering a $250,000 award for domestic startups and developers to create applications and experiences. Utilizing Meta’s Presence Platform, a comprehensive suite of machine perception and AI capabilities for the Meta Quest Platform and Metaverse, participants can build innovative applications and leverage the company’s cutting-edge technology.

The fund aims to foster innovation and establish a national XR technology ecosystem, according to Meta.

“Meta is committed to building the XR ecosystem in India. The Presence Platform is an integral part of the metaverse vision, aiming to make virtual experiences more tangible and accessible,” said Sandhya Devanathan, VP for Meta in India.

Under the program, a select group of up to five Indian developers and startups will receive a financial grant, as well as mentoring and guidance from experts at Meta Reality Labs. They will also have the opportunity to upload their products to Quest App Lab and become part of Meta’s growing developer ecosystem. Meta announced that the chosen startups will also be introduced to prominent local venture capital funds upon completion of the program.

“We believe that this fund and program will accelerate the creation and adoption of VR and MR experiences in the country and give Indian developers an opportunity to go global with their innovations,” added Devanathan.

Applications for the fund are now open, welcoming both established and new startups and developers to explore the capabilities of the Presence Platform. Meta specifies that selected developers will need to incorporate features such as Passthrough, Scene Understanding, Spatial Anchors, Shared Spatial Anchors, Voice SDK, Text to Speech, Interaction SDK for Hand Tracking, and Social Presence APIs into new or existing Meta Quest apps.

The initiative by Meta presents an exciting opportunity for Indian innovators to leverage mixed reality technology and contribute to the growth of the XR industry in the country. By providing financial support, mentoring, and access to Meta’s developer ecosystem, the program aims to drive the creation of immersive VR and MR experiences while nurturing local talent.

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