Center of Excellence for IPs in gaming inaugurated, MoUs signed

MUMBAI: Centre of Excellence (CoE) the country's first incubation centre for companies focussed on IP in Gaming, VFX, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision set up by Software Technology Park of India and backed by MeitY and The Government of Telangana was inaugurated on Monday.

The CoE also signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with 5 partners TVAGA (Telangana VFX, Animation and Gaming Association), Hyderabad Angles, HYSEA, and IIIT- Hyderabad to provide resources like mentoring, technology support, infrastructure and funding.

The start-ups will be mentored by a group of industry professionals and academics, led by the Chief Mentor, a Governing Council (GC) and Project Management Group (PMG).

The 10000 square feet CoE inside the existing STPI facility targets to incubate up to 25-30 start-ups per year for the next five years. A total investment of 19.68 Crore will be spent over a period of 5 years in addition to existing infrastructure in the STPI facility.

Start-ups on selectio will be assisted with a seed fund of Rs. 5 lakhs after due diligence by the PMG. In the first year, 20 start-ups will be chosen for on boarding this program.

TVAGA will lend funding support to game development start-ups and help in strategic partnerships between game development start-ups and global gaming publishers. HYSEA will also provide seed funding, strategy guidance, market access besides helping the start-ups on matters related to Product definition,

Hyderabad Angels will provide strategy, mentoring, and help raise funds for the start-ups. IIIT-H: will extend technology mentoring support.

The State Government intends to strengthen the CoE's business goals with industry-friendly IMAGE policies.

Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of the Industries & Commerce (I&C) and Information Technology (IT) said “Hyderabad is fast emerging as the best global destination for Gaming and AI landscape. That’s one key reason we believe STPI chose to set up its CoE in Hyderabad, and as partners, we are fully committed to this initiative”. “We have a strong eco-system, as the city of Hyderabad hosts established world-leading-gaming companies, global scale events such as IndiaJoy, The India Game Developers Conference (IGDC) plus India’s biggest IMAGE towers readying to open in Hyderabad.”

Omkar Rai, Director-General, STPI said that the CoE would aid growth of deep Tech innovations in the country, “The CoE will bring a paradigm shift in revving up research and innovation in Gaming, VFX, Computer Vision & AI through a robust ecosystem in collaboration with tech partners, industry, investors, industry associations and government, and will bolster indigenous product development while propelling the growth of tech entrepreneurship in the country.”

Shashi Reddy, Chief Mentor of CoE and VP Engineering, Qualcomm India said, “Hyderabad has a lot of animation and gaming companies, and the industry has been maturing over the years. This is a great opportunity for new start-ups to build, nurture innovation at STPI-IMAGE and accelerate the growth of gaming and animation in the city.”