Maha govt to hold Startup Week

The Maharashtra government today announced the launch of 'Startup Week 2018' in June this year, with a view to encourage and enable the entrepreneurial eco-system.

Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar said the startup week, to be held between June 25 and 29, will provide the new companies a platform to showcase their innovative products and services to the state government.

"We invite startups from the sectors such as education, skilling, healthcare, agriculture, clean energy, environment, water and waste water management, smart infrastructure, mobility, governance, financial inclusion and cyber security, to submit their applications to the Maharashtra State Innovation Society from April 25 to May 31.

"We will nurture the winning startups by hand-holding and guiding them," Niangekar told reporters here.

He said top 100 ventures will be selected to present their solutions to a panel comprising representatives from the government, industry, academia and investors.

During the week-long event, ten startups from each sector will make their pitch to the panel and the best three among them (a total of 24) will receive work orders of up to Rs 15 lakh from the Maharashtra State Innovation Society to pilot their solutions within the state.

"Subsequently, the startups will receive hand-holding support in terms of access to the government machinery and mentoring from its institutional partners for a period of 12 months to deploy solutions of ground.

"We are also focussing on encouraging at least five startups from each district and mainly entrepreneurs from rural areas by hand-holding and guiding them. Our ultimate goal is to create self-employment and employment," Nilangekar said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed the Secretary, IT and Skill Development, to constitute a team of experts involving NASSCOM and other organisations to study the possibility of creating a world class startup hub in the state.

The chief minister said the team should first study the existing innovation and startup ecosystem in Maharashtra and give its report, a release issued by the Raj Bhavan stated.

The CM was speaking at a meeting convened by Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao at Raj Bhavan to discuss the possibility of creating a start up hub.