VIJAYAWADA: IT and Panchayat Raj Minister Nara Lokesh said the State government has set a target to have 10 unicorn companies (a unicorn is a privately held startup company valued at over USD 1 billion) established in Andhra Pradesh by 2023. Delivering the keynote address at the launch of ‘MakeinAP’ initiative on Wednesday, Lokesh said that the department was in the process of chalking out plans for fostering firms, which have high market values.
“I have a dream to have 10 unicorns in Andhra Pradesh in 10 years. A lot of people ask me how it is possible. With the pool of talent we have, it is certainly possible,” he said. The ‘MakeinAP’ is an initiative under which the State government in association with NASSCOM-10,000 startups, Idealabs and other partners will create a platform to promote entrepreneurship.
Lokesh said that as a part of the initiative, hackathons (also known as a hack day, hackfest or codefest) based on 52 themes would be held in the next four months. “The best ideas from the hackathons and boot camps would be developed and we will help the teams with mentorship and connect them to angel investors. This way, we will take the idea through to pilot stage and later to product stage,” he said.
The minister also requested the college managements in the State to throw open their labs to the government so that it can assist in designing courses on emerging technologies for students. “We request you to throw open your labs and we will give you tools and infrastructure required so that you can skill up your students. You can build courses around cybersecurity, machine learning, artificial learning and other technologies can be offered,” he added.
Later, Lokesh said Innovation Valley (formerly called AP Innovation Society) was helping three ideas—instant tea cups in flights, disposable shaving brushes using banana fibre, and pencils made out of newspapers—by connecting the entrepreneurs with innovation ecosystem in Hong Kong, London and other countries.
Big boost
The Innovation Valley signed two MOUs with Idealabs—for development of emerging technologies—and Eleven 01 for leveraging Blockchain technology. Lokesh elaborated on the efforts of the IT department in skill development and accelerating innovations.