The State government will provide business opportunities in the Fintech Valley in the city on 80:20 basis and make it a pre-condition for participation in a $1 million global challenge award, Adviser, IT and Special Chief Secretary J.A. Chowdary has said.
Business plan competitions and roadshows would be conducted in global destinations in September to attract growth stage start-ups to the Fintech valley in Visakhapatnam, he said at a press conference here.
The growth stage companies would come only if business opportunities were provided. “They may have 80 % of business elsewhere but will be asked to set up 20 % of it here to be eligible to participate in the competition,” he said. Eighteen small start-ups have already started operations but the idea behind the competition was to attract big, growth stage companies in the next one year, Mr. Chowdary said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Fintech Valley was rated the fifth emerging destination in the world and this year it would migrate from 1.0 to 2.0. Until now it was focussing on blockchain, cyber security, artificial intelligence and data sciences. But it would now focus on domains like GovernTech, InsureTech, Agri and HealthTech and e-commerce.
Franklin Templeton, Conduent and Paytm and blockchain technology companies had already come to the State, he said. The State turned out to be big destination because the government was converting digital assets into blockchain technology to ensure security of land record, e-office, transport, education etc.
Mr. Chowdary said the State government had already allocated ₹100 crore as Innovation fund and with the participation of limited partners wanted to raise it to ₹.500 crore.
ADVERTISEMENT
Critical manpower
Apart from funding, it was also focussing on creating critical manpower and the International Institute of Digital Technology, now running in Tirupati, its extension would be started in Tirupati.
With funds, manpower and business opportunities, Fintech Valley in Visakhapatnam would go to the next orbit, he said.
Mentorship
To provide direction to students, College Mentorship programme was launched, he said. Fifteen to twenty mentors would take charge of providing direction, each again to 15 to 20 students, and provide them lifelong mentorship right from the projects they take up, Mr. Chowdary said.
Under Look for Employment in Andhra Pradesh (LEAP), companies which had no presence in Andhra Pradesh recruited 10,000 youth in the last five months and in the next one year one lakh jobs would be created, he said.
On the success rate of companies, he said it would take time but there were visible indications that some start-ups in Andhra Pradesh could become globally visible.