WaveX (Waves Startup Accelerator), IICT Mumbai

Choose the route

• Incubation at a centre such as IICT Mumbai: use the Apply for Incubation button on the WaveX site. No selection criteria are published, so email the WaveX inbox with your questions first.
• Pitching to investors: WaveX Live is for AVGC-XR startups that meet the registration, incorporation-date and stage rules.

Before you apply to WaveX Live

• Check you are registered in India and incorporated on or after 1 January 2016.
• Check your stage: bootstrapped, pre-seed, seed or pre-Series A.
• Prepare a pitch deck and a business plan.
• Plan for your own travel and stay costs.

What to expect

• WaveX arranges the investor meeting. It does not guarantee funding.
• If you tick the optional investor-sharing consent box on the form, your data can be shared with its named investor and mentor partners. If you leave it unticked, it is not shared with them.
• Your pitch materials stay yours, though WaveX can use them for evaluation and promotion.

WaveX, also called the Waves Startup Accelerator, is the startup accelerator platform of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's WAVES initiative, built for media, entertainment and language technology startups. Its site is run by the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), a Government of India undertaking. This page covers the WaveX incubation centre at the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT) in Mumbai, which is one of nine centres in the network.

How WaveX works

WaveX describes itself as India's first dedicated startup accelerator for the media and entertainment sector. It says it supports early-stage and growth-stage startups in animation, gaming, film, artificial intelligence, XR and content technology. The support it lists is incubation infrastructure, expert mentorship, funding facilitation, industry access and government enablement. It also runs hackathons, structured incubation programmes and national challenges.

Founders who want a place in incubation use the Apply for Incubation button on the WaveX home page. The site does not publish cohort dates, seat numbers or selection criteria for incubation, so write to the WaveX inbox if you need those before applying.

WaveX Live pitching

WaveX Live is a live pitching session for startups in the AVGC-XR sector, meaning animation, gaming, comics, AR, VR and XR, generative AI, broadcasting, radio, advertising, social media, film, music and emerging technology. It gives early-stage startups a chance to pitch to angel investors and venture capital firms, including pitches in front of celebrity angel investors. WaveX Live is organised by IAMAI together with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, with the WAVES platform hosting it.

Who can apply: the startup must be registered in India, incorporated on or after 1 January 2016, and at the bootstrapped, pre-seed, seed or pre-Series A stage. You apply through the online registration form on the WaveX site before the deadline, with a pitch deck, a business plan and other details. WaveX is clear that taking part does not guarantee funding. It only arranges the meeting, and any investment depends on the investor's due diligence. Travel, stay and setup costs are the applicant's own. Startups keep ownership of their pitch materials, while WaveX may use them for evaluation, promotion and event facilitation.

Locations

The nine incubation centres are IICT Mumbai, FTII Pune, SRFTI Kolkata, IIMC Delhi, IIMC Aizawl, IIMC Amravati, IIMC Dhenkanal, IIMC Kottayam and IIMC Jammu. WaveX says it has partnered with T-Hub Hyderabad and IIT Delhi to run this incubation network. The site does not give a street address or separate intake details for the Mumbai centre, so treat IICT Mumbai as the centre name and check the WaveX site for the current process.

Events and track record

At the WAVES Summit held in Mumbai in May 2025, WaveX says it arranged pitching for over 30 startups with government agencies and industry names such as Microsoft, Lumikai and Google, and gave nearly 100 startups exhibition booths. Its events page lists WAVES 2025 in Mumbai, the Indiajoy Innovation Conclave 2025 in Hyderabad, the Indian Game Development Conference 2025 in Chennai, Waves Bazaar at IFFI 2025 in Goa, the INFOCOM Startup Forum 2025 in Kolkata and The Big Picture Summit 2025 in Mumbai.

Investors and partners

WaveX names investor and mentor partners on its home page and in its data notice, including Sony India, JioStar, Microsoft India, KPMG India, Lumikai and MPL.