Odisha government moots special fund to support start-ups in the state

In order to create 1000 start-ups by 2021, the Odisha government has mooted a special fund to support them.

The state government is considering co-investment and fund of funds models among others for providing financial aid to the fledgling companies.

“A committee has been constituted for deciding the modalities of creating fund for the start-ups. The committee will be consulting experts before taking a final call”, said a source. 

While fund of funds (FFS) facilitates funding needs for start-ups through participation in capital of venture funds, in co-investment, a minority investment in a company is made by investors alongside a private equity fund manager or venture capital firm.

As many as 433 start-ups have registered with Startup Odisha, out of which 138 are women-led startups.

Uniquely, the state government is also planning to open Start-up Development Cells initially in 15 districts to encourage innovations at the grassroots level.

Recently at a meeting, LN Gupta, additional chief secretary, MSME department, said that 84 grants had been awarded to recognised start-ups and incubators.

Besides, 12 incubators and 13 nodal agencies are working to assist the start-ups recognized with Startup Odisha.

Last year, Odisha was declared as ‘Top Performer’ in the Startup Ranking-2018 which was announced by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). The state aims to emerge as one of the country's top three start-up hubs by 2020.