Hype vs Reality: MIB's WAVES outcome report faces credibility crisis

New Delhi: The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, a few days ago, released an “outcome report” displaying the mettle and materialisation around startups during the WAVES Summit 2025.

The report presented a confident narrative of India’s first global forum for media-tech and creator economy, catalysing over Rs 10,000 crore in M&E deals and its accelerator platform, WaveX, facilitating Rs 100 crore worth of investor-startup ‘discussions’.

WaveX was pitched as a first-of-its-kind accelerator focused on the intersection of technology and storytelling. It was pegged as the bridge between startups in content, media, tech, gaming, and AI and venture capital firms.

The report specifically outlined an outcome of “aggregated investment discussion value” of Rs 100 crore across curated investor-startup interaction, with a detailed table listing each VC firm against the startups they showed interest in.

However, BestMediaInfo.com reached out to both the investor side and the startup side. And the findings? They tell a different story. 

One that reveals an exaggerated portrayal of engagement and communication. 

Side A: Investors

According to the ministry’s report, 30 startups were matched with 29 investors through curated pitch sessions, masterclasses and networking formats. The outcome, it said, included investment discussions worth Rs 100 crore.

Among the investors listed in the outcome report, WarmUp Ventures, which is a SEBI-listed capital firm, had the maximum number of startups (11) that they showed interest in. 

The startups included Admott, Shortfundly, Cinedubs, Grootin, Tekurious, ProducerBazaar, Storyvord, DCverse, Magicroll, Narqubis, and Soundverse AI. 

Contrary to what the report implies, WarmUp Ventures confirmed that it is not moving ahead with any of the listed startups.

A spokesperson for the firm, who requested anonymity, told BestMediaInfo.com that while few names had been discussed internally or received follow-up via email, none progressed. 

The spokesperson noted that many of the startups at WaveX were still too early in their journey. 

“There was a form shared with us, and they connected us over emails. We did another round of filtering. I don’t think we have spoken to all of them,” the spokesperson said. 

While the concerned spokesperson, although involved with the process directly, did not attend the event. 

The venture’s partner, Rajesh Joshi, who did attend the event on behalf of the firm, added that WarmUp had shown preliminary interest in 11 startups, but no deal had moved forward. 

He cited a number of typical issues that cause early deals to collapse. These may include a mismatch in valuation expectations, over-optimistic projections, or lack of founder readiness, he explained. 

Joshi also explained that the Rs 100 crore figure quoted in the report may have been arrived at by simply adding the amount each startup was asking for, rather than reflecting any actual capital commitments.

Side B: Startups

The lack of traction was confirmed from the startup side as well. BestMediaInfo.com spoke to a startup that had interest from the capital firms. The founder of one of the startups, on the condition of anonymity,  confirmed that there was no follow-up or interactions with the VC firms post the event. 

Another startup founder from the list, who also requested anonymity, described the event as poorly managed. “The mismanagement made it very obvious that the team is early in their journey in the ecosystem of incubators or accelerators,” the founder said. However, he appreciated the exposure it gave to the media and entertainment sector.

In the founder’s view, WaveX should focus more on enabling government grants or global networking rather than trying to replicate a full-fledged VC platform prematurely.

The anonymity requests were omnipresent due to either reputational issues or future funding prospects. Hence, while the voices were candid, the insights were unfiltered, the need for anonymity was central. 

Inflation? Yes. Clarification? None

Both sides of the picture agreed that the summit had good intentions and generated exposure. But the gap between narrated success and actual “outcome” is large. 

The fact that names of startups and investors were publicly matched in an official government report, without confirmation or result, raises concerns about credibility. 

They highlighted the WaveX platform in a light that ventures have actually invested in these startups, but the ground reality is different. 

And that ground reality, as confirmed by both sides, is that no deal, no commitment, and in some cases not even a pitch conversation took place, despite what the WaveX Outcome Report may suggest.

BestMediaInfo.com tried reaching out to the ministry with queries, seeking clarification. Despite multiple follow-ups, the ministry offered no explanation, no rebuttal, and no willingness to clarify the discrepancies. The silence only deepens the questions surrounding the authenticity of the claims made in the report.