Is Ramayana a Metaverse?

I hope you had a joyous celebration on the occasion of Dussehra or Vijayadashmi.

Ramayana, for centuries, has defined the contours of cultural conscience as a victory of good over evil, dharma over adharma. One is expected to self-introspect and overcome his lesser traits to evolve into a better individual. But is an ‘individual’ separate from the ‘unified reality’ of the universe we inhabit?

‘Our universe’ was created through a Big-Bang explosion and has been expanding ever since. There may be multiple universes, we have no means to prove or disprove them. But what we cannot prove does not mean we cannot imagine. Imagination is the definitive human trait. Imagination makes us futuristic, linking the past, such as Ramayana, with the likely future – Metaverse.

The Greek word ‘meta’ means beyond or after. Thus, what is beyond the knowledge of physical science becomes metaphysical. Meta also denotes self referential identity or category.

Being added to the lexicon is Metaverse. Meta + Universe. Simplistically, a universe ‘beyond’ or ‘after’ our physical universe. A shared three dimensional space which ‘transcends’ our reality. How do we create that?

Well, poets and writers for centuries have ‘transcended’ reality through their words. Can we not create a bridge from Jambudweep to Lanka? Can a vanar sena not cross it? Have we not flown in a Pushpak viman? Through Metaverse one may look, feel, sense to a greater degree than just imagining these stories. Metaverse would enable real-life visualization of our thoughts.

Starting with Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology, the metaverse aims to create a three-dimensional (3D) digital environment which we all can cohabit, think, and transact in.

This is enabled either through personal wearable devices such as the VR headsets or goggles and creation of dedicated spaces to take us into a simulated world. A tremendous scope of possibilities open up as we move beyond the traditional two-dimensional screen-spaces of our mobiles and laptops. Brands can leverage user experience (UX) to mimic the real world. Team collaboration may become realistic as individual ‘avatars’ would interact with each other just like a meeting room. Education & knowledge creation becomes far more interactive in 3D space.

It has applications in the manufacturing sector to increase productivity and occupational safety, reduce travel and training costs. Similarly, it has streamlined workflows in construction by reducing infrastructure inspection time and in complex engineering design by reducing the iteration time. In healthcare, doctors can go beyond 2D X-Ray or scans and remotely operate an arm in through a 3D space.

Metaverse is still in the conceptual stage though big tech companies have been working on it for quite some time. A new set of startups have come up which aim to capitalize on early mover advantage in this nascent space whose contours are yet to be defined and agreed on.

It would be interesting to observe the practical implementation or uses of Metaverse in times to come.

Ecosystem Ventures This Week

Key Highlights – Events

We are happy to share that Mr. Vinay Bhandari (Partner, Ecosystem Ventures) has been invited as a jury along with Vinay Bansal, Inflection Point Ventures and Susmit Patodia, Antler at ISB PGPMax CATAPULT, a Leadership Summit 2022 organized by the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

Startup Funding Summary

Euler Motors, a Delhi-based EV startup, has raised $60 Mn in Series C funding from GIC Singapore, Blume Ventures, Athera Venture Partners, QRG Holdings, ADB Ventures and Moglix – Read More

Vance, a Bangalore-based global neo-banking platform, has raised $6 Mn in Seed funding from Hummingbird Ventures, Global Founders Capital, YCombinator, Soma Capital, Alan Rutledge and Gokul Rajaram – Read More

Mufin Finance, a Delhi-based NBFC, has raised $5 Mn in Series A funding from Incofin India Progress Fund – Read More.

HROne, a Noida-based HR tech startup, has raised $4 Mn in Series A funding from Insitor Partners and Prudent Investment Managers – Read More

FALCA, a Bangalore-based agritech startup, has raised $3 Mn in Pre-Series A funding from Inflection Point Ventures, LetsVenture, Mumbai Angels and other HNIs – Read More

M&A Snippets

Noida-based premier online classifieds company Info Edge has acquired Delhi-based edtech platform Coding Ninjas for $17 Mn  – Read More

Mumbai-based children-focused robotics startup Miko has acquired California-based AI-enabled gaming startup Square Off for an undisclosed amount – Read More

Delhi-based IT services and consulting company RattanIndia Enterprises has acquired Haryana-based EV manufacturer startup Revolt Motors for an undisclosed amount – Read More