StartupTN, the Tamil Nadu government’s nodal agency working towards improving startups and upscaling innovation, has rolled out an initiative, ‘Startup Tamizha’, a business pitch reality show with which the nodal agency intends to identify and fund 50 promising startups from across the State.
Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) T.M. Anbarasan on Friday formally launched the website, www.startupthamizha.tv, on which entrepreneurs can enrol for the initiative.
“Youths aspire to become entrepreneurs, but are hesitant to traverse the entrepreneurial path due to family situations and lack of awareness. As a new initiative, a TV reality show, titled ‘Startup Thamizha’, will be telecast for the purpose of creating awareness and attracting global investments for startups in Tamil Nadu,” the Minister said, adding, “I urge innovators, Startups, entrepreneurs, investors and industrialists to make good use of the initiative.”
Sharing data, Mr. Anbarasan said there were only 2,300 registered startups from Tamil Nadu till March 2021. The number of startups have now shot up to more than 7,400 in the State. Startups from Chennai attracted $ 1.5 billion investment in the last year, the Minister pointed out.
“To support startups from all parts of the State, StartupTN Regional Hubs were established in Madurai, Erode and Tirunelveli in the financial year 2022-23. Works are under way to establish regional hubs in Salem, Hosur, Cuddalore and Thanjavur in the current financial year,” he added.
Startup Tamizha has generated a funding commitment to the tune of ₹200 crore from entrepreneurs and angel investors, which will be deployed during the show.
Sivarajah Ramanathan, Mission Director and CEO of StartupTN, said a separate pavilion has been allocated for startups in the upcoming Global Investors Meet 2024 scheduled for January. “We will showcase the best startups in the State,” Mr. Sivarajah said. He also said that an initiative called Tanfund will be launched soon to connect startups spanning a wide spectrum of sectors with diverse funding partners.
