With an eye on the next billion Internet users, Facebook has announced the FbStart initiative, and has doled out benefits of around $21 million to Indian app developers.

FbStart was launched last year to help early-stage mobile start-ups build and grow their applications. To reach app developers across the world, FbStart is being organised across 20 cities, according to officials. Further, the $21 million in benefits is a part of the $50 million worth of benefits outlined by the social networking giant. Hyderabad-based Samosa and Delhi’s Cardback are two companies that have been beneficiaries of the initiative.

Samosa offers a curated collection of clips from popular movies that people can share with friends, while Cardback helps cardholders and wallet users identify the best ways to pay and maximise their rewards and savings for every transaction they make.

Fund provision As part of this programme, Facebook runs two tracks called ‘Accelerate companies’ and ‘Bootstrap companies’, for which it will provide software and tools worth $80,000 and $30,000 respectively to app developers.

Facebook has more than 70 per cent of its developers outside the US. In Asia-Pacific, FbStart was organised in Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and India.

In India, the event is being organised in Bengaluru and Gurgaon. In Asia, Facebook has more than 1,000 members as part of the FbStart programme.

“Asia Pacific is a huge region, with a huge base of youngsters who are using our platforms to develop applications,” said Ime Archibong, Strategic Partnerships Director, Facebook.

With millions of people still not yet connected to the Internet around the world, there is huge opportunity for developers to build some of the first experiences people could have with the Internet. Facebook, a few years back, acquired Little Eye Labs, a Bengaluru-based start-up that builds mobile app analysis tools for app developers and testers.

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