Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu Promises $15.6 Mn Startup Fund For The State

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has said that the government would allot $15.6 Mn (INR 100 Cr) to create a separate startup fund for budding entrepreneurs.

The Chief Minister and National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) Chairman and Managing Director H. Purushottam also signed a MoU to encourage startups through AP Innovation Society (APIS).

Talking about the move the CM said, “Technology and Internet of Things are a deadly combination. Being a tech-savvy government, we want to encourage our youth in all possible manners to become entrepreneurs.”

The Chief Minister was speaking at Indian Innovators’ Association (IIA) International Innovation Fair. He further added that besides creating a comprehensive ecosystem, the government was also looking to help budding entrepreneurs through mentoring, help in filing patents and financial support.

Andhra Pradesh – Attaining 11.72% Growth Rate

Last year in March, IT industry body National Association of Software & Services (NASSCOM), in partnership with the Government of Andhra Pradesh, inaugurated NASSCOM Startup Warehouse in Vizag. This year to promote the entrepreneurship, the Andhra Pradesh government’s FinTech Valley Vizag, a sustainable global fintech ecosystem, partnered with KPMG to develop a high potential fintech ecosystem in Vizag.

Banking on its policies, the Andhra Pradesh’s government managed to achieve an 11.72% growth rate as compared to 5.7% in India.

State Startup Fund – Promoting Entrepreneurship

Most of the states in India are currently working to promote the growth of entrepreneurial opportunities. To this end, in August 2017, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath set up a $156.2 Mn (1000 Cr) startup fund for helping entrepreneurs in the state.

Launched in April 2017 the North East Venture Fund was the first dedicated venture capital fund for the North-Eastern region. The size of the fund would be about $15.5 Mn (INR 100 Cr) and each investment will be limited to a minimum of $39K (INR 25 Lakhs) and a maximum of about $1.5 Mn (INR 10 Cr).

Prior that in March 2017, the Government of Bihar had enforced a new policy in place – the Bihar Startup Policy 2017 and set up a startup fund as a trust, with an initial corpus of $76 Mn (INR 500 Cr), to act as the nodal agency for implementation of this policy.

With the recently launched $100 Mn startup fund by the Andhra Pradesh government, the Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is aiming to attain a higher growth rate in future making AP among the top three States by 2022.

(The development was reported by The Hindu)