Oculus Launch Pad

Program description provided by Oculus:

Oculus Launch Pad is a program designed to support promising VR content creators from diverse backgrounds, so they can take their unique ideas and bring them to market.

Virtual reality is one of the most exciting and fastest-growing branches of the tech industry, but to reach its full potential, it needs a diverse team of creators. That’s why we started Oculus Launch Pad—a program designed to support promising VR content creators from diverse backgrounds, so they can take their unique ideas and bring them to market.

We kick things off with a two-day boot camp held at Facebook/Oculus HQ in Menlo Park in June 2017, helping up to 100 professionals grow as emerging leaders in the field. Those who are selected to participate (subject to verification) will receive a complimentary Gear VR headset and admission to the boot camp, which includes hands-on courses to support their passion for VR development, on-site meals during the boot camp, and a travel stipend of $1,200 USD.

After boot camp, all Launch Pad participants receive three months of livestreamed educational programming. They’ll join a growing online community of peers with additional coaching from Oculus experts as they develop their projects into a working prototype. And toward the end of the program, participants will have the opportunity to compete for a limited number of prestigious Oculus Launch Pad Scholarships.

VR is for everyone, and the best way to grow a vibrant content ecosystem with mass appeal is to incorporate the full range of unique perspectives from our development community. We hope to inspire developers that represent our global audience to share their voices with the world. By investing in developers with unique perspectives, we can bring more exciting content to VR fans everywhere. This includes women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and anyone who is willing to share how their perspective adds to the “diversity of thought” in our community.