Bhubaneswar, Dec 1 : Odisha will emerge as the leading start-up hub in the country through strategic partnerships, conducive investment, and favorable policies, state Industries, MSME minister Pratap Keshari Deb said on Thursday.
Addressing the session hosted by Startup Odisha with the theme ‘Startups’ Paradigm Shift and the road ahead” at the ‘Make in Odisha Conclave 2022’, here, Deb said Odisha has been recognised as the ‘Top Performer’ state in the startup ranking 2021 due to the inclusive approach and a conducive startup ecosystem.
The minister said over the last five years, the state had built several world-class incubators and had created a large talent pool of mentors.
Today, Odisha has over a thousand successful startups, that are being mentored at around 25 incubators.
He further said “Our aim is to emerge as the leading start-up hub in the country through strategic partnerships, conducive investment, and favorable policies
The Government, Deb said, is keen to boost innovation among young people and has initiated several programs like startup Yatra 2.0 to motivate youngsters to innovate and fulfill their dreams.”
The session touched upon the entrepreneurial culture, economic and business transformation and building of a sustainable and scalable start-up ecosystem.
“Over the years, Odisha has been pioneering pathbreaking policies that have attracted significant innovation and investment in various industry sectors.
Principal Secretary, MSME Saswat Mishra said, “Make in Odisha Conclave 2022, is a unique opportunity to understand Odisha’s policy and regulatory environment, wherein a platform is provided for investors and potential manufacturers.
Mishra said through this conclave Odisha aimed to build the State as a preferred destination for investment and maximize the technology and innovation potential by boosting the start-up ecosystem.
He further said the state is keen to encourage start-ups not only from the IT sector but other sectors as well to be creative and convert their ideas into tangible products”
Speaking about the growing start-up ecosystem in the State Executive Chairman, Startup Odisha, Dr. Omkar Rai said, “Make in Odisha Conclave 2022 is the perfect platform for start-ups to interact with investors, mentors and leaders.
Startup Odisha, he said is playing the role of an enabler, having set up 25 active incubators and supported 1434 start-ups since 2016 of which,590 start-ups are led by women.
“We intend to give additional thrust to the startup ecosystem by granting better incentives to prospective entrepreneurs.
A Fund-of-Funds scheme has been promulgated by Startup Odisha under which AIFs of national and global repute participated, thereby provisioning an investment of Rs.950 crores into state-based Startups.
AWE Fund, IAN – Alpha Fund, Gujarat Venture Finance Limited, Unicorn India Ventures, Trillium Venture Capital, SEA Fund and PONTAQ Venture Capital are the participants of this scheme for mobilizing the provisioned investment”.
A total of 5 MoUs and 7 Letters of Intent were signed during the conclave.