New Delhi, Jan 27 (KNN) A list of 120 startups and innovators have been shortlisted by the MeitY Startup Hub (MSH), an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), and Meta for the XR Startup Program.

The announcement was made by MeitY on Friday about the progress in the XR Startup Program which includes an Accelerator and a Grand Challenge which aims to boost the emerging tech ecosystem in the country.

Out of the startups selected in the Accelerator Program, over 30 per cent are fr0m tier 2/3 cities across India.

Also, 40 per cent of the selected innovators and startups in the grand challenge are fr0m tier 2/3 cities.

Further, more than 20 per cent of the cohort has women innovators and startups with women founders/ co-founders.

Speaking on the occasion, Jeet Vijay, CEO of MSH, said, “Emerging technologies like XR will have a significant impact on the digital ecosystem. Indian startups and innovators, especially fr0m non-metros, will play a key role in shaping technologies like the metaverse and the future of the internet. The collaboration with Meta will provide the necessary impetus in supporting and scaling up such startups.”

Addressing the kick-off of XR Startup Program, Shivnath Thukral, Director Public Policy, Meta India, said, “Combined with a robust startup ecosystem and a strong tech talent pool, the startups and innovators fr0m tier II & III towns are well poised to shape the digital future of the country. Initiatives like the XR Startup Program with MeitY Startup Hub, will further act as a catalyst to the growth of technology startups and innovators across India.”

The Accelerator Program is supporting 40 early-stage start-ups working in XR technologies with a grant of Rs 20 lakh each.

Further, the Grand Challenge will encourage early-stage innovators in sectors like Education, Learning and Skills, Healthcare, Gaming and Entertainment, Agritech & Climate Action and Tourism & Sustainability.

The innovators will be provided support to upscale fr0m the R&D phase to developing workable products and services.

At first 80 innovators will attend a bootcamp, out of which, a total of 16 innovators will be provided grants of Rs 20 lakh each and further support to help them develop Minimum Viable Product (MVP)/ prototypes.

The Accelerator and Grand Challenge are also supporting startups and innovators with establishing customer connections, partnership opportunities and fundraising among other things.

The program is being executed in partnership with implementation partners including, Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at IIT Delhi (North Zone), Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) at IIIT-H (South Zone), Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) at SMUTBI (East Zone), and Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC) (West Zone).  (KNN Bureau)