$100 million VR startup accelerator from HTC

A $100 million accelerator program called Vive X is being launched by HTC for startups that want to use its VR technology. The program that is expected to offer mentorship, secure investment, and access to VR tech, will launch in Beijing, Taipei, and San Francisco, with the possibility of expanding to more cities over time, reports The Verge.

Applications are being accepted now and a pilot program will start in Beijing in May. The Verge says that HTC isn’t the sole investor in the project:  it's described as an investment fund "led by HTC" instead and the company declined to list other investors.

The goal of the program according to HTC is to "support a healthy and vibrant ecosystem for the Vive," and the companies in the Vive X program will be given between $50,000 and $200,000 in exchange for handing over "a small amount" of equity, alongside other benefits.

Though the rest of the company has been struggling for a while, Vive X signifies that HTC is serious about VR. The Vive is still a niche product, but it's by far the most exciting thing HTC has done lately, making frequent appearances at gaming conferences and film festivals. The Vive is currently the only major headset on the market that comes with motion trackers, and HTC seems to have been more forthcoming with kits for VR developers than its competitor Oculus.

Whereas Oculus has been working in the direction of VR game development, funding a $1 million game jam for the mobile Gear VR and publishing a number of exclusive titles for the Rift, HTC and Vive co-creator Steam have apparently leaned more toward simply handing out kits, resulting in an uneven and highly experimental catalog. But this accelerator bolsters a very reasonable theory: that the companies are much more interested in capturing the attention of non-gaming companies that use VR.

Another notable fact is that HTC is putting money into boosting the Chinese VR market. Oculus has made relatively few inroads into China where there’s still a large fledgling industry which can work just right for Vive X.