Government of Odisha to collaborte with Google to help startups in the state scale and grow

The government of Odisha is partnering with Google to explore collaborations that could help startups in the state to scale and grow.

As per a report in Business Standard, a government official was quoted saying, “We are in discussion with Google for collaborations under the different programmes of the internet giant. Google Startup programme has partnership with three states- Karnataka, Goa and Telangana where they are supporting startups. We are exploring similar partnership with Google.”

As part of its Cloud Startup Program, Google will provide free credits to startups allowing them to focus on building their business while the internet giant takes responsibility of scaling and securing their infrastructure. However, there are certain criteria that the startups are required to meet.

The Odisha state government has recognised about 250 startups that could partner Google in mentoring. Reportedly, out of all the startups recognised by the state government, 50 are in the tech space.

Odisha is looking to become one of the top three startup hubs in the country by 2020 with an aim to facilitate at least 1,000 startups over the course of five years.

The second leg of the Startup Odisha Yatra is also in the pipes and will be launched in October. The first phase of the yatra covered about 50 institutions in 15 of the 30 districts in the state. The next leg aims to cover the remaining areas to promote grass root level innovations.

Odisha has also relaxed criterion for startups on the lines notified by Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) to enhance the ease of doing business. Earlier, for an entity to be declared as a ‘startup’ they were required to have incorporation and registration not prior to five years. That has now been relaxed to seven years in general and 10 years for startups working in the field of biotechnology.