While Bhubaneswar, with a population of 4.2 crore (2011 Census), is home to startups in many fields, edtech has been seen as being one of the fastest growing categories in the last 10 years. “Bhubaneswar is a prominent city for innovation due to a host of reasons, including a stable government, big demand, and no language barrier,” says Siddharth Bhatter, Founder, Bhubaneswar-based edtech startup Karkhana.
To register for the SIDBI ET MSME Conclave in Bhubaneswar, click here.
Industry stakeholders say that several educational institutes are located in and around the city. This and a comparatively lower operational cost make Bhubaneswar an ideal fit and catalyst for tech-based startups. In addition, several big names in the corporate world such as TCS and Infosys have their offices here.
Odisha has over 30,000 BTech seats. While over 4,000 are in government colleges, around 30,000 are in the 85 or so private engineering colleges in the region.
“Bhubaneswar’s proximity to so many engineering and research colleges was a big factor for me to launch my startup here,” says Ashutosh Kumar Shandilya, Founder of TechBairn. “That also makes it our largest market due to the demand it has for our edtech products. Holistically, the startup ecosystem of the state is top notch.”Industry stakeholders also say that the focus by premier state institutions such as Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) to build a platform to support manufacturing hubs has supported the startup ecosystem in Odisha over the past decade. KIIT-Technology Business Incubator (KIIT-TBI) is the innovation hub of KIIT. It is supported by government organisations and has helped over 400 startups in various sectors, including life sciences, edtech, medtech, digital health, renewable energy and agritech.
Shandilya of TechBairn says that the startup ecosystem of Odisha is top notch.
At the Startup Leadership Conclave 2023 organised by ETGovernment, Omkar Rai, Executive Chairman of Startup Odisha, had said that the initiative had funded 350 startups directly and generated over 15,000 new jobs in 2021–22.
While the state government has done a top job in creating an efficient startup ecosystem in the state, industry stakeholders hope the government will provide them working spaces under its O-Hub initiative at further affordable rates. Under O-Hub, the Odisha government provides services such as mentorship, investment facilitation, business development, co-working space and modular manufacturing at subsidised prices.
Bhatter of Karkhana says the government should open up more opportunities for the edtech sector. “Suppose if there is a tender coming out in education or if there is anything related to a startup, it should be channelised to us. It may require a bit of policy tweaking,” he adds.
SIDBI, in association with The Economic Times, is organising a series of events across the nation to bring together micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs), policymakers and ecosystem enablers to give small businesses a boost and a national platform, . The first event was held in Indore on January 9. More events would be held in Bhubaneswar, Ludhiana, Aurangabad, Rajkot and Belagavi.
To register for the SIDBI ET MSME Conclave in Bhubaneswar, click here.
