Bhubaneswar: Odisha is changing and progressing towards a new world of ideas, innovations & a budding entrepreneurial community, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said here on Saturday.
“We are on a path of resurgent Odisha scripting new stories of success in all fields,” the Chief Minister said inaugurating the world class incubation centre ‘O-Hub’– a flagship initiative of the State Government to support Start-up formation and subsequent scale-up.
He said that the ‘O-Hub’ will be the first point to identify the best in the industry for co-creation & development of business with their new ideas and it will be a conglomerate for Business Houses & Innovation.
“Now the innovators, mentors, corporate partners, ecosystem enablers & facilitators– all of them will work under one roof,” he asserted.
The start-ups are the agents of economic freedom, ideas and innovation.
“The O-hub will facilitate 200 start-ups every year in diverse sectors like Healthcare, Renewable Energy, ICT, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality, Internet of Things, Handlooms and handicrafts, Agri-tech and many more,” he added.
Expressing happiness over creation of more than 1200 start-ups so far under Odisha Start-up Policy 2016 that have generated 10 thousand employments in the state, the Chief Minister expressed confidence that the State will achieve the goal of 5000 start-ups by 2025.
“O-hub will be a propellant to foster a spirit of entrepreneurship by providing end-to-end assistance to a start-up during their start-up journey,” he added.
The start-up movement in the State is growing every day and Start-up Odisha has been a catalyst to this movement, driving them by Energy, Enterprise & Innovation, the Chief Minister said.
The State has proposed in the new draft policy 2021 to reach out to the young minds in school by adding entrepreneurship as a part of the school curriculum, the CM announced.
The state supported incubation hub is located in the Special Economic Zone, Patia Bhubaneswar & offers 1,50,000 square feet area with state-of-the art facility, plug-n-play infrastructure to support start-up activities within the state.
This initiative would provide a platform for Innovators and Entrepreneurs to develop products or services, establish formal businesses and interact with stakeholders of the ecosystem.
With the Start-up Odisha Office stationed in O-hub, it will be a central place for Incubators, Accelerators & other major stakeholders with a complete infrastructure support for high end fabrication labs, R&D facilities and amphitheatre among other facilities.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister MSME Dibya Shankar Mishra applauded the State’s initiative towards entrepreneurs and how Start-up Odisha has been pivotal in nurturing grassroots innovations & aiding them to be a scalable business.
The state incubation hub aims to mobilize Start-up Investments to the tune of Rs. 100 crore per year through Venture Capitalists, Angel Networks, HNIs, State and Central Government Departments or Agencies or PSUs.
Odisha Skill Development Authority Chairman Subrato Bagchi said that O-hub is a great platform to celebrate start-ups and provide an investor ecosystem in the state.
Principal Advisor to CM Asit Tripathy said how O-Hub would bring the start-up community together by providing a platform for entrepreneurs, mentors, investors and academia to interact and collaborate.
The Chief Minister also released a coffee table book on Start-up Odisha.
Satyabrat Sahu, Principal Secretary MSME coordinated the entire program.
