 "Odisha to host start-up conclave next month")
The Odisha government has decided to host a start-up conclave on November 28-29 to boost entrepreneurship. The conclave would be organised in collaboration with the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), TiE-Bhubaneswar and TiE-Silicon Valley.
The objective of the event is to motivate youth towards entrepreneurship, showcase the start-up ecosystem in Odisha and attract more start-ups to start their ventures in the state. It has also been decided to organise an 'Idea competition' among the youths.
The event is proposed to be held in 10 sessions including the inaugural session. Major sessions would be on inauguration, Idea Competition, cultural evening, Plenary session on how to start, plenary session on policy and institutional support to be followed by the sessions on My Story, Social Entrepreneurship Track on arranging finance, digital marketing, innovation, legal issues & compliance.
Separately, there would be a session anchored by Nasscom on 'Mentor-Mentee'.
Odisha has unveiled its start-up policy that aims to position the state among the top three start-up destinations in India by 2020 and to develop a robust ecosystem in five cities of Odisha by 2020.
The objective of the draft policy also includes to attract Rs 1,000 crore in investments into the incubation and start-up ecosystem. It has suggested to provide Rs 250 crore for youth entrepreneurship activities for the next five years or earmark one per cent of the annual state budget.
The draft policy targets also include to establish at least 20 technology business incubators and accelerators in each of the different sectors in the state to encourage at least 1,000 technology product start-ups, develop 0.5 million square feet (sq ft) of incubation space, facilitate venture capital funding of a minimum of Rs 1,000 crore, setting up of facilitation centre in each district and single window clearance facility, among others.