Bhubaneswar, Dec 18: Odisha will achieve the goal of 5000 start-ups by 2025, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said here on Saturday. Inaugurating O-hub, a flagship initiative of Odisha Government, to support Start-up formation and subsequent scale-up, Naveen Patnaik said the hub located in the Special Economic Zone, Patia Bhubaneswar will help the innovators, mentors, corporate partners, ecosystem enablers and facilitators to work under one roof.
O-Hub will be the first point to identify the best in the industry for co-creation and development of business with their new ideas and it will be a conglomerate for Business Houses and Innovation. It will facilitate 200 start-ups every year in diverse sectors like Healthcare, Renewable Energy, ICT, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Augmented Reality/ Virtual Reality, Internet of Things, Handlooms and handicrafts, Agri-tech and many more.
The Chief Minister expressed happiness over creation of more than 1200 start-ups so far under Odisha Start-up Policy 2016 generating 10,000 employments in the state.
O-hub, he said will be a propellant to foster a spirit of entrepreneurship by providing end-to-end assistance to a start-up during their start-up journey.
He said Odisha has proposed in the new draft policy 2021 to reach out to the young minds in school by adding entrepreneurship as a part of the school curriculum.
Stating that the state is on a path of resurgent Odisha scripting new stories of success in all fields, Naveen wished success to the budding entrepreneurs.
Speaking on the occasion, MSME minister Dibya Shankar Mishra applauded the state initiative towards entrepreneurs
He said the state incubation hub aims to mobilize Start-up Investments to the tune of Rs. 100 crore per year through Venture Capitalists, Angel Networks, HNIs, State and Central Government Departments or Agencies or PSUs.
Odisha Skill Development Authority Chairman Subrato Bagchi said that O-hub is a great platform to celebrate start-ups and provide an investor ecosystem in the state.
Principal Advisor to chief minister Asit Tripathy said O-Hub would bring the start-up community together by providing a platform for entrepreneurs, mentors, investors and academia to interact and collaborate.
