AP to float Rs 100-crore innovation fund for startups

State targeting to incubate 500 startups by the end of this December, and 5,000 by 2020

The Andhra Pradesh government is planning to create a Rs 100-crore state innovation fund for startups, according to J Satyanarayana, adviser (egovernance, electronics and IT) to the state government.

“The draft guidelines will be endorsed in a week, and the innovation fund will be launched during this year. Also, as a part of the state innovation and startup policy launched in August 2014, the government will reimburse to the incubator or the investor 15 per cent of the seed capital infused into a startup based out of the state,” he said.

Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of an event here on Tuesday, Satyanarayana said the Vizag Startup Village was currently incubating 107 startups.

Andhra Pradesh is targeting to incubate 500 startups by the end of this December, and 5,000 by 2020.

While incubation infrastructure to the extent of one million sft is currently available at Vizag, Kakinada, Tirupati and Anantapur, the government is creating 300,000 sft of additional space in the vicinity of the Vizag Startup Village, which should be ready sometime next year, he added.



“In association with major corporate houses, the state government is also planning to come up with seven centres of excellence (CoEs) to nurture the startup ecosystem. We have requested various universities to create space for the CoEs. The idea will be a reality in the next few months,” Satyanarayana said, adding AP had also sought the participation of semiconductor chip maker Intel in the initiative.

Meanwhile, Intel today called for entries from Andhra Pradesh for the Intel and DST (department of science and technology)’s Innovate for Digital India Challenge. To be executed by IIM-Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), the challenge is aimed at fostering a culture of innovation, create solutions that can address local needs and build an ecosystem for pervasive technology adoption in the country.

“We have already received over 1,000 entries for the challenge, which will run up to January 2016. The total grant for the challenge is Rs 1.5 crore, and the top three winners will get access to a seed funding of Rs 20 lakh each,” said Debjani Ghosh, vice president (sales and marketing group) and managing director (South Asia), Intel.