Facebook gives benefits worth USD 20 mn to Indian developers

Social networking giant Facebook has distributed benefits worth USD 20 million to developers in India, its second largest market globally to help them build and monetise apps.

Under its FbStart initiative that was started last year, the US-based firm has provided free tools and services worth USD 50 million to help developers in the Asia Pacific region. "Developers are an important part of our ecosystem.

SEE ALSO: Weekly round-up: 10 Smartphones launched in India this week

We have grown from a small size and we know the hurdles that developers can face while developing products," Facebook Director Product Platform Partnerships Ime Archibong told PTI. Through this initiative, Facebook wants to help take care of certain aspects, so that the developers can focus on building world-class products, he said.

Archibong added that India is an important market since the country has the second highest number of developers after the US under the FBStart initiative. "More developers are building apps with Facebook in India than any other country outside the US and today, more than 75 per cent of top-grossing apps in India are integrated with Facebook," he said.

Out of USD 50 million in benefits distributed to Asia Pacific startups through FbStart, more than USD 20 million went to startups in India, Archibong added. Delhi-based app Cardback and Hyderabad's Samosa that offers a curated collection of clips from popular movies were among the beneficiaries.

In Asia, Facebook has more than 1,000 members as part of the FbStart programme. Facebook has started its FbStart World Tour, an event series across 20 cities to meet mobile developers across the world. It has held events in London, New York, Mexico City, Hong Kong, Seoul and Taipei. In India, it is hosting these events in Bangalore and Gurgaon.

SEE ALSO: Independence Day Special offers in India: Top 10 Smartphones to check out

"With millions of people still not yet connected to the Internet in India and around the world, there is a huge opportunity for mobile developers to build some of the first experiences people have with the Internet," he said. Archibong said that through programmes like FbStart and Internet.org that opened its platform to developers, Facebook aims to help build better mobile experiences that demonstrates the power of Internet.

Source PTI