Path to Meta Horizon Start Partner

Overview

Meta Horizon Start Partners are recognized for their commitment to building high-quality, innovative VR experiences on Meta Horizon. Partner status comes with tailored support from Meta experts, expanded program benefits, and new opportunities to grow your project. Start Partners receive exclusive resources designed to help you maximize impact and succeed in the evolving VR ecosystem.

How to Join

Start Partner invitations are extended based on periodic reviews of member progress and engagement. You do not need to apply or reach out; the Start team will contact you if you become eligible. We will also announce any changes to the selection process in our community channels.

Note for current Start Members: The Start team regularly reviews your progress and contributions. If you become eligible for Partner status, you’ll be notified. We expect to open applications to current Start members in the future, and we’ll update this post (and announce in our community channels) when applications become available.

Partner Benefits

As a Meta Horizon Start Partner, you receive all core program benefits plus additional perks, including:

• Access to the Partner community Discord to connect and collaborate with experienced developers and program mentors
• 1:1 mentoring sessions for personalized support and feedback on your project
• Educational and social events with advanced content from Meta leads, hands-on workshops, live Q&A, panels, and more
• Prioritized technical support from a dedicated team
• Product feedback opportunities to help shape the platform and have your voice heard

Qualifications

We’re looking for Start members who demonstrate strong content quality, product adoption, and sustained development momentum. When evaluating eligibility for Partner status, we use the following minimum guidelines (which may evolve over time):

• Have a working build: A playable or internal build that demonstrates core gameplay/app flow and baseline stability (not necessarily final or polished), ready for evaluation
• Build an engaging experience: Strong session quality, retention drivers, and content depth—meaningful user engagement is an important signal
• Show sustained development momentum: Regular iteration, shipping updates, and steady progress toward release
• Use platform tooling to improve quality: Leverage performance tooling and relevant XR tech features; adoption of Meta’s recommended developer tools often correlates with successful, engaged apps

We also consider additional factors, such as:

• Community involvement: Positive, substantive contributions—sharing knowledge, assisting other members, or participating in community events
• Commitment: Consistent engagement and meaningful progress over time
• Subject-matter expertise: Demonstrated expertise, especially when shared to help others

If you don’t meet these guidelines yet, we encourage you to keep building and participating in the Meta Horizon Start program. Take advantage of educational programming, technical support, and the community forum to strengthen your experience, performance, and retention. We’re excited to see your progress—and hope to welcome you as a Meta Horizon Start Partner in the future.

Want to work toward Partner status?

Keep a working build ready for evaluation, focus on building an engaging experience, iterate regularly, and use Meta’s recommended developer tooling to improve performance and quality. We also encourage you to share your progress in the What I’m Building section of the Developer Forum.

For more information on Start membership, see the Meta Horizon Start program terms.