Gandhinagar: The Gujarat Government aims to support up to 2000 start-ups at the cost of Rs 7000 crore by the year 2021, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said
on Thursday. He was speaking at the inaugural session of three-day Vibrant Gujarat StartUp & Technology Summit in Gandhinagar.
This is the second edition of summit. The key objective of the VG Startup Summit is to attract the brightest entrepreneurial minds from across the nation to ideate, innovate and help them shape their idea for the development of the state and the nation.
The summit also aims to create an ideal startup ecosystem to compete with the best in the world and create a lasting network of relationships for all the stakeholders of this ecosystem.
Inaugurating the event Vijay Rupani said,“I am pleased to see so many young faces in the audience. This shows that the youth of Gujarat is an active participant in Gujarat’s vibrant economy and it is the youth that will find the solutions for our development goals through innovative ideas and thinking.”
Canada has partnered with the organizers of the VG StartUp and Technology Summit for the second time. Mr. Chad Hensler, Consul and Trade Commissioner at Consulate General of Canada in Mumbai spoke of the Canada Start-up Visa program.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, he said “In a world where many countries are closing doors and building walls, Canada is welcoming people with open arms. Canada now offers permanent residency to entrepreneurs who have secured funding from angel investors in Canada or from a list of 26 designated business incubators.”
One of the key events of the Startup Summit is the Grand Challenge, with a total prize money of Rs 3 crore,. The challenge has been organized with an objective to find innovative, technology based and commercially viable solutions to key developmental issues of the state and the nation.
The aim of the Grand Challenge to find innovators who can solve far reaching problems in AgriTech, FinTech, Smart & Shared Mobility, Women CentricSolutions, Manufacturing 4.0, Governance 2030, Maritime and Military Intelligence and HealthTech sectors.
Speaking on the Grand Challenge, Gujarat Chief Secretary Dr. JN Singh said, “The Grand challenge would provide an excellent opportunity and a platform for startup, innovators and entrepreneurs to develop an affordable and sustainable solutions that improve and change the developmental landscape of the country. With the focus on solving challenges, we have received an enormous response from across the country with more than 1200 applications and I am pleased to see that more than 2/3rds of the applications are from Gujarat.”
NASSCOM President, Ms. Debjyani Ghosh making the keynote address spoke effusively of Gujarat’s entrepreneurial roots, she said, “In Gujarat, entrepreneurship runes in the DNA of Gujarat. The people of Gujarat understand the need for risk taking and the need to solve problems at the same time.”
The two day summit will see parallel sessions providing experiential networking and workshops specific to the interest, challenges and opportunities for startups such as ‘Cloud Computing’, ‘Intellectual Property’, ‘Investor Pitching Workshop’ to name a few.
Additionally, seminars will also be held on the following themes: ‘Marketing Metrics and Branding for Startups’, ‘Building Blocks of Sustainable Startup Ecosystem: Global Perspectives’ and ‘The Magic of Failure / The Power of Second Chances.’
The summit is being organized by the Industries Commisionerate, iNDEXTb and GIDC from the Government of Gujarat with support from industry associations such as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Gujarat Electronics & Software Industries Association (Gesia), Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) and iCreate among others.
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