Startup Odisha executive chairman Omkar Rai and Tim Draper | Express
BHUBANESWAR: Billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper and Startup Odisha executive chairman Omkar Rai on Monday met in Cuttack for a discussion on the prospects of escalating the growth of startups and fostering entrepreneurship in the state.
They also discussed the possibility of establishing a ‘Draper Startup House’ in Odisha. Bitcoin billionaire investor Tim, known for his early bets in breakthrough tech companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Hotmail, Skype, etc., also backs startups in a big way.
During the meeting, he lauded the efforts of the state government in supporting the startup ecosystem, while a discussion took place between Draper’s team and Startup Odisha on the modalities of how to take it forward.
“The startup ecosystem in Odisha is growing by leaps and bounds capitalising on the strength of both traditional and modern sectors. Odisha is also ranked among the top-performing states as per the Startup Ranking 2021. To further spur the growth and support the startup ecosystem, we had a discussion regarding establishing a ‘Draper Startup House’ in Odisha. We have received a positive response and have started discussions on how we could work together in this direction,” said Rai.
Rai said Startup Odisha has taken several initiatives in the recent past like Startup Odisha Yatra, Startup Xpress to promote grassroots innovations and entrepreneurship among the students. “To extend all support to the startup ecosystem in the state, the Odisha government has also developed O-Hub, an Incubation centre that sprawls over 3.8 lakh sqft area in Bhubaneswar,” he said.
He said a ‘Draper Startup House’ has already been established in Bengaluru and with the potential that Bhubaneswar holds in the startup ecosystem, the next destination can likely be Odisha’s capital, he said.
Officials said ‘Draper Startup House’ supports startup entrepreneurs across the world, with a vision and mission to one million entrepreneurs by 2030.
Draper Startup Houses are in about 25 cities around the world and Draper is expecting to move that to 50 this year. Tim, who admired the efforts of Startup Odisha, also emphasised that giving incubation support to startups is a very important job.
