BHUBANESWAR: The State Government is working towards encouraging sports entrepreneurship which has the capability of generating employment in large number, said Sports and Youth Services Minister Tusharkanti Behera here on Saturday.
Inaugurating SPORT IT 2020, India’s sports and innovation festival, at Kalinga Stadium, Behera said the Government wants sports enthusiasts and students to explore the possibilities of entrepreneurship and startups in the field. "Sports is not limited to physical fitness and entertainment anymore. It has gained immense popularity as a business. The event aims at exploring this possibility in Odisha," the Minister said.
Attending the two-day event hosted by Xavier Emlyon Business School (XEBS) and Sports and Youth Services department, former captain of Indian Hockey Dilip Tirkey said the festival is different in many ways from other sporting events organised in the State, especially in Bhubaneswar.
“A number of sports players and entrepreneurs will be part of the event which will give students and youngsters ample opportunity to learn ways of making a career in sports,” Tirkey said, while urging investors to invest in State’s sports sector and join Odisha Government’s efforts to make Bhubaneswar the sports capital of the country.
Hockey India CEO Elena Norman hailed the efforts of Sports department and XEBS for giving such a platform to youngsters to exhibit their talent. XEBS Chairman Ashley Fernandes also spoke. As many as 12 startups working on sports technology, nutrition, flow monitoring, site management, virtual reality and e-games are participating.
Startups like Mumbai-based Fast and Up, PlayO, Str8bat, Chennai-based Sportify Parenting, Bengaluru-based See- How and Delhi-based Shapecrunch and Funngae along with homegrown startups KarKhana Makerspace, Sports- Science India, NexSB and Akela Adventure are participating.
Several activities including Sports Hackathon, Start-up Village and Sports Marathon will be organised in the event that will conclude on Sunday. Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other different French Clubs are artners.