Chennai, 9th February 2024: The Hon’ble Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Thiru. T.M. Anbarasan launched various new initiatives of the Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission at an event held at the CMRL Building Auditorium, Nandanam on Wednesday (07.02.2024).
The Hon’ble Minister launched Smart Cards for Startups and issued them to the first 10 Startups. The Smart Card offers a comprehensive selection of products and services at subsidised rates, specially tailored to meet the needs of Startups in their early stages. Startups can significantly enhance and expedite their business growth by making use of the products and services at an affordable cost. StartupTN has collaborated with various partners to provide a diverse range of products and services to equip Startups with essential resources and support at a reduced cost.
The products and services have been broadly classified into six different categories:
Legal & Compliance, Marketing/Business Consulting, Finance and Insurance, Human Resources and Smart Workspace, Software and IT/ITES, and Media and Entertainment. The Hon’ble Minister gave away sanction orders to four Startups run by entrepreneurs from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Communities, amounting to Rs 9.05 Crore under the Tamil Nadu SC/ST Startup Fund as equity investment.
The Minister launched products and services of 20 Startups run by women entrepreneurs under the Women Launchpad initiative. LaunchPad is a platform designed to help Startups gain initial offline and online market traction for their new Brands and Products on a public forum. This will spur creativity and build excitement for Startups.
The Hon’ble Minister also launched the Open Innovation portal, aimed at connecting corporates/government agencies with innovators, Startups and researchers. They can take up the problem statements/challenges posted by corporates and government agencies and come up with innovative solutions.
The Minister also launched a Branding Course titled ‘Nil-Brand-Sell’ under the BrandLabs initiative of StartupTN. Startups can make use of the content created by branding expert Mr. Praveen Shekar.
Addressing the participants, Hon’ble MSME Minister, Thiru. T.M. Anbarasan said that to increase participation of people in Startup activities, various funding opportunities are being created by the State Government. They include TANSEED, Tamil Nadu SC/ST Startup Fund, and Innovation Voucher Program.
He said that since the State Government performed better in the Startup ecosystem space, Tamil Nadu State received the recognition ‘Best Performer’ in the Union Government’s States’ Startup India Ranking. The Regional Startup Hubs established by the State Government through StartupTN are creating sensitisation on entrepreneurship throughout the State.
MSME Secretary, Tmt. Archana Patnaik, I.A.S., Mission Director and CEO of StartupTN, Thiru. Sivarajah Ramanathan, and branding expert Mr. Praveen Shekar participated in the program.