Facebook Joins T-Hub To Promote Innovation In AR/VR

In collaboration with Facebook, Hyderabad based T-Hub has kick started ‘India Innovation Hub Accelerator Program’ to discover the best amongst startups working in the field on AR/VR in India.

The programme plans to aid the startups with cutting edge technology to scale using innovation programs, global outreach and technology depth.

“We understand the challenges startups face to get their ideas off the ground and we are committed to paving the way for the next generation of startup success in the country. Through our Accelerator Program with T-Hub, we want to provide the right support, training and mentorship they need to explore the potential of emerging technologies” said Satyajeet Singh, Head of Platform Partnerships, Facebook India and South Asia.

What’s In Store For The Participants?

The initiative is looking for the AR/ VR startups catering to the needs in segments such as healthtech, industrial manufacturing, education, corporate learning & development, hardware and accessories positioning, gesture and eye tracking, mobile hardware and enablement, video processing, developer tools, camera, and capture technology.

The startups which will be selected in this programme will work and scale up under the aegis of Facebook. The startups will have to develop Proof of Concept (PoC) on the prioritised solution and showcase their PoC to key executives of Facebook and T-Hub during the ‘Demo Day’ at T-Hub Hyderabad.

Also, the qualified startups will be directly accepted to the Fb Start program and access T-Hub’s network of mentors, industry experts, investors, service providers, and community/ecosystem.

Fb Start is a global programme designed to help startups build and grow. FbStart provides year-round technical support from Facebook, an exclusive community of global startups, free credits to tools and services from dozens of premier partners, training on Facebook Developer Tools, and more.

Promotional activities will be organised throughout the applications phase, followed by shortlisting of startups in Hyderabad. The finalists will be invited to participate in a three-month accelerator program at T-Hub, where they will be mentored by subject matter experts and industry experts to help shape the startup ideas.

The interested startups can register here to participate in the programme.

AR/VR Growth And Funding In India

As mentioned by the Facebook and T-Hub authorities in an official statement, India has barely 170 AR/VR startups, while according to GrowthEnabler’s estimates, there are close to 1,500 startups in the AR/VR segment worldwide. Here, the US accounts for nearly 45%, followed by the UK, Israel and Canada. Globally, from 2013 to 2017, the AR segment has received $2.5 Bn while VR has taken in $2.7 Bn in funding.

Jay Krishnan, CEO, T-Hub, said, “The Indian AR/VR market yet nascent is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 76% over the next five years, fuelled by demand from business and consumer sectors. Our intent, as an ecosystem enabler is to partner with pioneers like Facebook and explore new frontiers that are relevant for India like Healthcare, education etc with AR/ VR and XR.”

He further added that in India, of the 100 AR startups, only 5% have received any form of capital investment of $1 Mn-1.5 Mn. Of the 70 VR startups, only a handful have raised any seed/angel capital. Even the top 15 AR/VR startups that are said to be growth enabler, identified based on over 50 parameters, have collectively raised under $3 Mn in funding.

 Backed by the Telangana state government, Hyderabad-based T-Hub has already been running a host of incubation and acceleration programmes in collaboration with various organisations such as YES Bank, Uber, TiE Silicon Valley, ICRISAT, UTC, CASHe. Recently it collaborated with Blockchain Hyper Hub, and also set up T-Bridge centres across the globe to attract investments for startups and businesses in Hyderabad.

Notably, Telangana has been emerging as a hub of startups operating in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, deep learning and Big Data. It remains to be seen what comes next for T-Hub in its collaboration with Facebook.

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