Startups needed to sustain GDP traction and fast-track it

Unicorns, skilling and GDP - the startup space is looking at many stepping stones that will elevate the country to a new vantage point on future global peaks. Dr. Omkar Rai, Executive Chairman, Startup Odisha and former DG-STPI, in conversation with Sunil Rajguru.

- Pratima H

Startups are not just a signal of competitiveness of technology but also of a nation on a new growth path. In an exclusive chat with Cybermedia, Dr. Rai underlined how the trifecta of policy, on-ground reach and incubation have been accelerating many startups in this region of India.

STARTING UP STARTUPS

"Odisha startup ecosystem has grown to a level of 1800 startups. We serve this ecosystem through 27 incubators including one created by the State Government. This ecosystem is driven by a state startup policy that was created in 2016 and was subsequently revised. It is attracting a lot of investments from all across the space. Some have received attractive equity funding apart from grants from the government (About over 6 crore for 22 startups) so there is both internal and external impetus coming in." Talking about the ecosystem's outreach and impact, he confidently shared how it spans across the state - like Startup Yatra and other schoolrelated initiatives. "We have been able to reach over 35,000 students across all districts and over 200 colleges. We have been able to garner 4600 ideas from them which are being processed and then 200 ideas would be shortlisted for acceleration support.