Odisha launches exclusive portal to handhold start-ups

Portal will boost state's start-up ecosystem and help it achieve 'Mission-1000 Start-Ups' by 2020

to make the state among the top three start-up destinations in the country, the Odisha government took a step in this direction on Monday, by launching a dedicated portal for start-ups.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik launched the portal, www.startupodisha.gov.in, at the state secretariat today. The portal has been developed jointly by the team of MSME Odisha, Team Invest India and National Informatics Centre (NIC). Patnaik also released the compendium of start-up policies with amendments and revised operational guidelines.

“Odisha start-up policy is a one-stop platform for start-ups, incubators and investors in the state for registration and availing benefits under the Policy”, Patnaik said at the launch ceremony.

He said the portal will act as catalyst in boosting the ecosystem in the state and achieving the 'Mission-1000 Start-Ups' by 2020.
 
The portal is crafted to adhere to the three core principles of ease of usage, transparency and knowledge sharing. It is also seamlessly linked with the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Start Up India so that it reduces duplication of efforts in filling of information.

"Moreover, a single page of registration with minimum documentation greatly enhances ease of its usage. With clearly laid out eligibility criteria and benefits, an online dashboard clearly conveys status of an application to the concerned start-up/incubator," an official statement stated.

The portal also provides essential sample tools and templates on commercial lease agreement, consultancy agreement, employment agreement and non-disclosure agreement, which are regularly required by start-ups during their operations.

Importantly, the portal also stresses the need for creating angel funding networks and has an easy process for registering them under the Startup Odisha initiative.

For educating the youth on entrepreneurship, a four-week online 'Learning & Development Programme', developed by UpGrad in association with Invest India is also available on the portal, free of cost. The programme consists of six modules on idea identification and assessment, understanding basics of finance, law and business planning and fund raising and pitching.

The state government has recently made an upward revision in the benefits available to start-ups and incubators under the policy. In an effort to boost entrepreneurship, it has doubled the monthly allowance to start-ups to Rs 20,000 and tripled the marketing and product development allowance to Rs 15 lakh. For incubators, a process of matching grants has also been introduced and operating guidelines have also been simplified.