Media Lab Asia has been promoted by Department of Information technology, MCIT, Govt. of India as a not for profit company. The objective of the company was set to bring the benefits of ICT to the common man. It started with the functional activity areas such as World Computer (Affordable, ubiquitous computing and access devices), Bits for All (Low Cost, High bandwidth connectivity) and Tomorrow's Tool (Rurally relevant applications). However it was later changed to application areas such as ICT for Healthcare, Education, Livelihood and Empowerment of Disabled.

Since then the company has taken up 75 development projects and some of the projects are now being rolled out at the national level. The company has a unique way of growth by working with an expanding network of  research laboratories for undertaking development work. It started with creating a hub at some of the IITs and the list of such project partners has grown to more than 58. The partners are a combination of academic and Research and Development institutions, industry, NGOs and Govt. Agencies. The projects can be sponsored by Corporate Bodies, Govt. (Central/State) and Local Municipal Bodies/Panchayats etc.

After development the technology is taken from lab to land for pilot testing/ large scale deployment through a unique scheme of provider/user membership under PPP model. MLAsia is poised for developing relevant and sustainable technologies and culturally appropriate solutions touching daily lives of common people in years to come.