Guwahati: The North Eastern Council (NEC) partnered with the IIM Calcutta Innovation Park to bring 500 start-ups from the region under one umbrella at the Vivanta in Guwahati on Monday.
“I am very happy that NEC has partnered with IIM Calcutta Innovation Park for this", K. Moses Chalai, secretary the of North Eastern Council shared with Business North East. He stressed it is a matter of "leveraging each other’s strength" and expressed optimism that some of the start-ups at the meet would "really take off." K Moses Chalai attended the summit as the chief guest.
Upon being asked what start-ups here can do to narrow the gap with big national players, Chalei said, "We need to identify the sectors and projects that will be impactful. Thereafter, we can focus on funding."
Monday's event sought to showcase and "celebrate the evolution of the startup ecosystem" in Northeast India while providing a platform for innovators to connect, collaborate, and flourish, an organizer shared with this reporter.
This event brought together more than 500 startup founders from Northeast India, providing a platform for interaction, networking, and collaboration with an emphasis on drawing a pan-India focus on Northeast India’s start-up ecosystem. It also aimed to attract key stakeholders from the national start-up ecosystem to bolster the entrepreneurial fabric of the region.
Shradha Sharma, founder and CEO of YourStory media, Sagar Daryani, the founder and CEO of WOW! Momo, and Pratap TP, the founder of QwikCilver Solutions were innovators present at the event which was also attended by top-notch investors like Vikram Gupta, among others.
"Here, the participants can talk about their journey so far and the possibility to collaborate among themselves. This is the biggest opportunity", Pranjal Konwar, COO of IIM Calcutta Innovation Park told Business North East. He added that this event was "bigger" than the recently-held 'Connect.X Hangout' as startups from all 8 Northeast Indian states and big national-level investors were in attendance. In a significant highlight, 9 start-ups from the Northeast Entrepreneurship Development Programme got a letter of intent (LOI) from IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, paving the way for investments after a due diligence process.
Drones, wine bottles, tea, three-wheeled vehicles, hand-crafted jewellery, and handloom products were introduced by aspiring entrepreneurs at the event and many participants said they found it to be "very helpful."
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