In an attempt to nurture the start-up ecosystem in Odisha, TiE Bhubaneswar and Start-up Odisha unveiled Hall of Fame 2.0. The programme was inaugurated by Omkar Rai, executive chairman of Start-up Odisha, Manoj Mishra, secretary for Electronics and IT with the Government of Odisha, Debashish Patnaik, president of TiE Bhubaneswar and Sunil Taneja, vice president of TiE Bhubaneswar.
25 start-ups from across the state showcased their products and ideas at a specially organised exhibition during Hall of Fame 2.0.
In his inaugural address, Rai said, “The start-up ecosystem in the state has attained critical mass. During the current year, the start-up ecosystem in Odisha has received around Rs 100 crore funding in various start-ups of the state and the total funding has risen to Rs 359 crore from angel investors and venture capitalists. We have been receiving very encouraging responses from the start-ups on the ground from across the state. The recently concluded Odisha Start-up Growth Fund, Fund of Funds has attracted a commitment of over Rs 1000 crore, which will be made available to start-ups and will be invested in another 5 years.”
Mishra added, “The IT space in Odisha has been changing rapidly for the better and start-ups have had a large role to play. The exhibition of the 25 start-ups for Hall of Fame 2.0 is very impressive with a wide variety of products, both IT and non-IT that represent the whole start-up ecosystem in the state.”
“The Hall of Fame was planned to showcase the innovative ideas and creativity of deserving start-ups, whose expertise has not been recognised. Hall of Fame showcases 25 start-ups, who have displayed their products in the exhibition, ” Patnaik said while addressing the founders present at the event.
Taneja noted that to be considered as entrepreneurs, founders need to hire, delegate and be last in the line with regard to finance. "Money, salaries, taxes and other overheads need to be paid first, and lastly, you should have no fear of failure,” he advised.
Participating start-ups got the opportunity to meet high-level investors including Mumbai Angels, Indian Angels and Lets Venture. The investors delivered notes on financial management and product development. Both parties had an open house session, where start-ups interacted, cleared doubts and received advice on the nuances of entrepreneurship.