Bhubaneswar: In order to encourage grassroot innovators and promote entrepreneurship among them to achieve 5000 start-ups in Odisha by 2025, Odisha Startup Yatra and Startup Xpress 2023 took off in Bhubaneswar on Monday.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the two programmes which will connect more than 25,000 students from over 260 institutions. This edition of the initiatives is 2.5 times bigger than the past and aims at generating more than 3,500 ideas to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. To ensure maximum coverage and efficiency, Startup Odisha will have 4 dedicated vans covering all 30 districts.
Secretary to CM (5T) shri VK Pandian was present on the occasion. Minister Pratap Kersari Deb, MSME Principal Secretary Saswat Mishra and director Omkar Rai attended the function.
During the Startup Yatra, 50 shortlisted ideas will be invited for a 3-day acceleration programme. Thereafter, top 25 ideas will be invited to O-Hub for the demo day and out of those, 10 will be awarded seed funding worth Rs 3 lakh each to develop their ideas into viable startup ventures.
Besides, top 20 ideas from Startup Xpress 2023 will be invited for final pitching and 10 of those awarded with cash prize of Rs 10,000 each to encourage these young students and build their entrepreneurial spirit.
It may be mentioned that Startup Odisha under the MSME department came into existence in 2016 with Odisha Startup Policy-2016. Since its inception, Startup Odisha has already supported and facilitated more than 1700 startups including 600 startups led by women directors, founders and co-founders.
Starup Odisha provides various benefits including monthly allowances, product development and marketing/ publicity assistance, need-based assistance, subsidised incubation and financial support for participation in national and international events.
