Uttar Pradesh intends to combine higher education with incubators to foster entrepreneurial ideas via angel finance.
With 63 incubators presently functioning, the government is trying to establish one at each higher education institution in 75 districts.
According to KPMG, Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the country’s fourth-largest startup ecosystem, with eight unicorns and two prospective soonicorns. Currently, two soonicorns are working in the state: Class Plus and InShorts.
Of the almost 10,000 recognized startups in the state, half originate from tier II and III cities. More than 4,300 are managed by women entrepreneurs. UP is home to eight of India’s 108 unicorns: Paytm, Paytm Mall, India Mart, Moglix, Pine Labs, Innovaccer, InfoEdge, and Physics Wallah.
The APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University, the state’s central technical education institution, has around 500 colleges connected with it. The UP Startup Policy 2020 calls for the proposed incubators to be operational by March.
These incubators will provide entrepreneurs with money, marketing assistance, and coaching. InMobi, India’s first unicorn, intends to support the state’s startup ecosystem through mentorship and skill-building collaborations.
UP has a progressive startup policy, which would give rich dividends to the state in agri-tech, edu-tech, digital marketing. Moreover, the state is catalysing micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and leveraging its One District One Product scheme to nurture startups, InMobi Founder and Chief Executive Officer Naveen Tewari said.
“The MSMEs and startups have instilled a ray of hope to the rural areas by reducing regional imbalances, assuring equitable distribution of income and wealth,” MSME Export Promotion Council Chairman D S Rawat said.
The Yogi Adityanath government had earlier allocated Rs 1,000 crore to the UP Startup Fund.
The state is promoting startups in fields like artificial intelligence, drones, med-tech, blockchain, 5G, 6G, quantum computing, additive manufacturing, and space tech.
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Source: BS
