Startups in Odisha: The Odisha government has approved a grant of Rs 1.28 crores for 10 startups in the state under its Startup Odisha programme to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in the state.The programme supports startups in agri-tech, food and beverages, HR-tech, enterprise technology, retail, education and logistics sectors.
According to a statement by Startup Odisha, backed by MSME Department of the state government, the startups will receive grants in tranches based on their progress to fund research and development activities,product development, marketing and other operational expenses.
The selected startups were document scanning solution Axonotics, food and grocery delivery app EME Technologies, logistics startup Foliyoo Technologies, software startup Indersons Services, retail company Happiness Under Budget, IP service provider Lex Protector, handicraft handloom startup Sabhyasha Retail Tech, logistics company Zentai Workforce, edtech startup Kickstart Careers and agritech startup Manikstu Agro.
Four startups were based in Khorda, two in Kalahandi, and one each in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Sundergarh and Bargarh.
Dr. Omkar Rai, Executive Chairman, Startup Odisha said, “In our relentless pursuit of fostering innovation and nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit, we are proud to announce this significant grant allocation. These investments in our state’s startups signify our commitment to creating a thriving ecosystem where innovation knows no bounds. Our vision is to build successful startups by providing necessary financial aid, mentorship and guidance that will help them scale and grow”.
Launched in 2016, Startup Odisha is an initiative of the Odisha government to support 5,000 startups in the state by 2025. So far, the initiative has supported over 1,700 startups including more than 600 women-led startups and 27 incubators. As of April 30, 2023, Odisha had 1,783 DPIIT-recognized startups.
Earlier this year, the state government’s MSME Department had also announced launching of an online portal AIM 2.0 for faster and transparent administration of incentives under various industrial promotion policies for MSME units in the state.
Moreover, In February this year, Odisha had amended its MSME Policy 2016 along with Odisha Food Processing Policy 2013 and Odisha Food Processing Policy 2016 to benefit industrial units whose claims for incentives were rejected due to delay in claim submission.
