A one-day Kota Startup Fest organised in the education city of Kota, considered the headquarters of Hadoti region in south-eastern Rajasthan, organised on Friday witnessed the participation of over 150 startup enthusiasts looking for support for their entrepreneurships.
The event was organised by Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO) with the State's leading incubation centre, Startup Oasis, as a co-organiser. The IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship was the knowledge partner.
Highlighting the startup policy, RIICO General Manager (Business Promotion) R.K. Gupta said Rajasthan was one of the first States to have its own policy which was announced in October last year. “The State government has been working hard to expand the startup ecosystem,” he said.
Prototype
Under the policy, students and aspiring entrepreneurs with an idea or a prototype can get support of Rs.10,000 per month for up to one year to work on developing their vision. Besides, there is a funding support of Rs.10 lakh and Rs.50 lakh for colleges and institutions which would like to set up an entrepreneurship cell or an incubation centre, respectively.
Experts from different streams shared their experiences in the panel discussions on topics such as startup and funding scenario, startup to scale-up, investors' perspective and building the startup ecosystem in Rajasthan.
The highlight of the day was the “Startup Expo”, in which over 15 Kota-based startups showcased their services and products.
