BHUBANESWAR: Startup Odisha on Friday announced the launch of Odisha Startup Yatra and Startup Express 2023 which will focus on empowering the youth at the grassroots to explore the realms of innovation and entrepreneurship. The initiatives will be flagged off by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on September 11.
Startup Odisha will engage with educational institutions across the 30 districts, involving over 25,000 students from more than 200 colleges and 60 schools, through a series of programmes like van camps and boot camps for scouting innovative ideas. As part of the initiatives’ Startup Odisha will conduct over 260 van camps in colleges and schools followed by 120 boot camps generating over 3,500 ideas.
Briefing mediapersons, Industries, MSME and Energy Minister Pratap Keshari Deb said as Odisha marches towards its mission of 5,000 startups by 2025, the two initiatives will be pivotal in bringing innovative ideas to the forefront. “With a track record of nurturing innovation, fostering entrepreneurship, and providing robust support to women entrepreneurs, these initiatives stand as a transformative experience, poised to accelerate the startup ecosystem’s growth and success in the state,” he said.
The last edition of Startup Odisha Yatra had drawn 10,270 students from over 100 colleges of which 22 top ideas were selected for the acceleration programme culminating in the demo day where 11 finalists were awarded Rs 1 lakh each. The upcoming edition is expected to generate at least 50 top ideas, of which the top 25 ideas will be invited to O-Hub for the demo day and the best 10 will be awarded seed funding worth Rs 3,00,000 each to develop their ideas into viable startup ventures. A dedicated mobile application has been developed to collect innovative ideas from young innovators.
This apart, the top 20 ideas from Startup Xpress 2023 will be invited for final pitching and 10 will be awarded a cash prize of Rs 10,000 each. Executive chairman of Startup Odisha Omkar Rai and principal secretary of MSME department Saswat Mishra were present.