HCLTech has officially joined a strategic initiative — the XR Startup Program — created by Bay Area tech giant Meta Platforms, backed by India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY) Startup Hub.
MeitY is India’s premier government-supported hub for boosting startup capacities, providing rising talent with resources to fulfil and showcase their use cases.
For HCLTech, it has joined the programme to seek out and incubate talent across virtual, augmented, mixed, and extended reality (VR/AR/MR/XR) firms across the Indian subcontinent.
The launch comes amid a series of initiatives to boost competencies, industry access, and testbeds for emerging technologies. Using startups, nations and regions worldwide hope to leverage XR technologies to back rising generations of tech enthusiasts.
A Closer Look at the Strategic Partnership
HCLTech has joined the programme as a knowledge partner. Doing so will allow the company to work with the Menlo Park-based firm to support an Indian XR ecosystem. Many of the solutions created under the initiative will innovate immersive services, hardware and software solutions.
Verticals involved will cover healthcare, education, agricultural technologies, and others linked to India’s economic, environmental, and societal growth.
HCLTech Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra and HCLTech Board Member Shikhar Malhotra were invited to meet the Hon’ble President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu (@rashtrapatibhvn), as part of a delegation of business leaders who are contributing to the higher education landscape of… pic.twitter.com/G5K9G50YkD
— HCLTech (@hcltech) July 12, 2023
HCLTech will leverage its tech experts to offer startups one-to-one mentorships, thought leadership sessions, and business and industry perspectives. Startups can also tap HCLTech’s tech infrastructure worldwide as they progress through the programme.
Additionally, startups can access HCLTech’s cutting-edge engineering and innovation technologies and facilities. Innovative companies can then use the resources to test, validate, and develop further use cases for their solutions.
Comments on XR Partnership
Vijay Guntur, President, Engineering and Research and Development (R&D) Services, HCLTech, responded in a statement. He explained that he was “thrilled” to join the programme to mentor and support innovative XR companies.
“Digital engineering is of strategic focus to HCLTech and our involvement in this program reinforces our commitment to nurturing emerging technologies and innovation to drive all-around growth”
Shivnath Thukral, Director and Head of Public Policy, India, Meta Platforms, added that the programme played a “crucial role” in backing XR startups to embrace the emerging technologies.
He explained Meta’s partnership with HCLTech further,
“Their leadership and guidance as a trusted partner will greatly benefit the program participants and further Meta’s vision of nurturing immersive technologies and innovation in India to make the country a hub for these emerging technologies”
Jeet Vijay, Chief Executive, MeitY Startup Hub, said that his company focused on “innovation and entrepreneurship.” This allowed India to become the third-largest “startup ecosystem in the world,” he explained.
Vijay explained further,
“The next wave of innovation, transformation and investments is in XR technologies and the metaverse, and the ‘XR Accelerator’ program will ensure that Indian startups are at the forefront of developing, launching and scaling immersive technology solutions for the global markets. Active collaboration of the academia and industry leaders provides practical guidance and support to the startups to become leaders for this new era”
The news comes as India aims to build foundations for the Metaverse, the next communications platform based on spatial computing and the Internet. To achieve this, the subcontinent had created organisations to build and develop XR technologies aligned with its tech vision.
India hopes to lead the next decade as a ‘Techade’ by supporting Indian youth with novel tech and funding prospects.
Accenture and Women-Led Startup XR Initiatives
The news comes as Accenture, one of the big four consultancies worldwide, revealed in February last year that it had opened a Women Founders’ Programme. The Dublin-based IT consultancy giant aimed to back women launching startups by providing funding, clientele, networking, training, and mentoring.
Women-led firms working with AI, XR, the Internet of Things (IoT), Web3, the Metaverse, cloud computing, and big data, among others, would receive support from the initiative. Qualified female entrepreneurs received $60,000 in grants to start up their businesses.
According to Accenture’s research, India faced significant shortfalls in capital for women entrepreneurs, sparking the need for the Women Founders’ Programme. Further research from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also noted severe gender diversity gaps. Figures revealed that only 6 percent of startups across India held women entrepreneurs, totalling 20 percent of leadership roles across 70 percent of Indian startups.
Investors provided only 5.8 percent of capital to women-led startups, or around $1.69 billion USD.
The survey also unveiled significant discrepancies in the funding of women-led startups, which only received 5.8 percent of investments, totalling $1.69 billion USD, from January 2018 to June 2020.
Meta-Africa No Filter Initiative
Furthermore, Meta also teamed up with social justice organisation Africa No Filter to initiate African storytelling programmes for aspiring VR content creators. In December 2021, the initiative aimed to incubate content creators using immersive technologies to develop stories, provide grants, mentorship, and other resources.
The programme aimed to tackle stereotypes on African countries with XR-based tools and artistic mediums.
At the time, applicants needed to meet criteria such as being of African descent, aged 18 and up, living on the Continent, and holding a portfolio of previous XR content. Entrants also needed to pitch their projects to the initiative to qualify for industry backing.
Meta, Electric South, Imisi 3D, and other tech firms involved in the project allowed content creators to apply for grants valued as much as $30,000 USD. A cohort of finalists would later present their projects virtually or in person at select venues across Cape Town, South Africa.
Saudi Aramco’s Ithra Center and the Creative Solutions’ XR Initiative
Finally, Saudi Arabia’s Ithra Center showcased a night of immersive artworks based on the nation’s history and culture in London. A cohort of finalists from the Creative Solutions initiative debuted their immersive artworks at the stellar event.
Creatives also leveraged tools such as Meta Quest 2 headsets and Unity, OpenBrush, and other content creation platforms.
Major executives from the event included:
- Filipe Martin, Programme Lead for Creative Solutions
- Mizna al-Zamil, Head of Creativity and Innovation, Ithra
- Maddalena Crosti, Programme Adviser and Board Member, Creative Solutions Initiative, Ithra
- Dr Ashraf al-Fagih, Head of Programmes, Ithra
- Simon Benson, Technology Consultant, TalentForTech
- Jennifer Rosen, Founder and Communication Specialist, Fulltilt
At the time, Dr al-Fagih, said that the initiative aimed to empower talent “in a year-long journey” to voice their creativity and develop tangible products.
The programme also aimed to “empower [cohorts] through entrepreneurship,” he concluded.
Benson is also Head of the Unity Centre of Excellence in Salford, Greater Manchester. At the event, he told XR Today that the event gathered “all the key people” to support the project.
Ithra’s initiative aimed to “make sure everyone gets the best of the best in terms of opportunity and understanding.”
He concluded: “When you think about several months of education, programmes, and project activity, which ultimately transforms someone who may have practically no understanding [of XR] to someone who could literally run a technology business delivering XR experiences on a world-class level, it’s phenomenal”
