WaveX, which is a start-up accelerator initiative of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT), has announced the launch of a dedicated media tech start-up incubator.

The incubator is aimed at nurturing high-potential ventures in the rapidly evolving media and entertainment space and will provide a dedicated nurturing ecosystem for the start-ups in the sectors of AVGC-XR or audio, visual, comics, gaming and extended reality, the government said in a statement late last week.

The initiative will provide structured mentorship, cutting-edge infrastructure, strategic advisory, and real-world testing opportunities through government media unit partnerships, thus helping start-ups scale and commercialize effectively.

According to the statement, the incubator will operate on the following two-phase model:

• Active Phase:Intensive support in business modelling, product development, pitching, branding, fundraising and media regulations, alongwith sandbox testing opportunities in OTT, VFX, VR, gaming, animation, publishing and post-production.
• Passive Phase:Global showcases through Waves Bazaar in subsequent editions, focus on light mentorship and engagement with industry associations.

Various facilities will be provided such as co-working spaces, AV/digital labs, hosting servers, high-speed LAN/Wi-Fi, AWS/Google Cloud credits and India AI compute services in the near future. Programmes will also feature masterclasses by global leaders from Google, Microsoft, Amazon etc., along with focused bootcamps, policy clinics and investor-connect sessions.

WAVEX will oversee the governance of the programme with quarterly reviews under the mentorship of the MIB. Fifteen start-ups will be selected for the first batch in IICT campus with a fee of Rs. 8500 (plus taxes) per month. Applications for the first cohort are open until September 7, the statement added.

WaveX is the dedicated start-up accelerator platform under the MIB’s WAVES initiative, aimed at nurturing innovations in media, entertainment and language tech. At the inaugural WAVES 2025 in Mumbai, over 30 start-ups pitched live to investors, government agencies and tech leaders.