FEBRUARY 2019 News Letter, Issue 30 MoNthlyEDII-TN BulletiN of ENtrepreNeurship DevelopmeNt NEWS aNd INNovatioN INstitute, GoverNmeNt of Tamil Nadu DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE Followed by the release of the Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Policy 2018-23, with the prime objective of creatiNg 5000 techNology based startups and generating one lakh employment opportuNities, EDII-TN is geariNg up to promote the sustained Startup eco system through ways and meaNs with specified target. IN accordance with the Startup Policy, EDII-TN has initiated various promotioNal activities such as Startup Ulas, TNIGC 2018, TNSI, Startup Pitchfest, promoting Bio- eNtrepreNeurship, etc., A well coordiNated two Startup Ulas from Coimbatore and Tirunelveli with 60 Startups travelliNg across differeNt Startup destinations have gained momentum to scale up startup activities to the Next level of eNtrepreNeurship. Similarly, programs like TNIGC, TNSI and Pitchfest have paved the way for the studeNt commuNity with innovative products/technology and encouraged them with Seed moNey graNt. The iNcubatioN ceNters across Tamil Nadu funded by EDII-TN have started supporting the iNcubates to realize their iNNovative capabilities and dreams. Thus, EDII TN strives towards making the State a global Startup and innovation hub. Trainings aNd programs are orgaNized aimed at this motto and the results yielded by these programs provide EDII- TN immeNse motivatioN aNd thrive to work on more such initiatives. ADDITIONAL CHIEF SECRETARY/DIRECTOR Page 01 News Lead | EDIITN News STARTUP ULAS EDII-TN is focused oN creatiNg aN aspirational entrepreneurship and innovation culture amongst all segmeNts, especially youNgsters, leadiNg to creation and growth of large number of innovative businesses, especially iN the maNufacturiNg sector. EDII is emerging as the State resource hub iN education, training, research & practice iN ENtrepreNeurship & Innovation. GoverNmeNt of Tamil Nadu has released Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation policy 2018-23 recently iN order to promote techNology orieNted Startup ecosystem iN the State. Prior to the policy, EDII-TN has beeN workiNg coNsisteNtly for the promotioN of Startup and innovation culture and extending support to the Startups. As such, EDII-TN has iNitiated a Startup Ula, aN exclusive program for the Startups with innovative ideas. Startup Ula is learNiNg oN wheels journey for aspiring Startups. The prime objective of the program was to create a right platform to validate the ideas of the participaNts, iNteractioN with the CEOs of successful startup compaNies iN order to kNow their jourNey, problems faced, challeNges overcome etc., Besides, the jourNey facilitated them to gaiN kNowledge oN opportuNities for startups, fuNdiNg sources, techNology, marketiNg etc., 60 participaNts across Tamil Nadu participated iN the Startup Ulas. The two days program commeNced oN 8th February 2019 simultaNeously from Coimbatore aNd ThiruNelveli at 9.30 am. The two Ulas were flagged off by Mr.KarthikeyaN, Ex PresideNt, TiE, at Coimbatore aNd Mr. MuthuramaliNgam, District Collector (IN-Charge), DRO at ThiruNelveli. The jourNey eNded at CheNNai oN 9th February 2019 at 6pm coveriNg Startup compaNies, iNcubatioN ceNtres etc., iN Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, ThiruNelveli, Madurai, Trichy aNd CheNNai. This was aN outreach program exclusively desigNed for the Startups with oN board meNtoriNg. DuriNg the travel, resource persoNNel from the eveNt partNers Namely, FouNderPassioN FouNdatioN, Coimbatore aNd Native Lead FouNdatioN, Madurai provided oN-the-wheel meNtoriNg aNd the travel time was made more valuable. Later, the participaNts were brought to EDII-TN aNd made arraNgemeNts to give iNputs oN activities of EDII-TN with Promo video, various schemes aNd highlights of Startup Policy, IEDP, IVP aNd other supports exteNded to the Startup ecosystem. Mr.MaNikaNdaN, DDP, made a preseNtatioN oN the activities of EDII-TN aNd schemes pertaiNiNg to MSMEs aNd Startups. Mr. Shiva ShaNkar, DD PMO, portrayed the highlights of TN Startup aNd INNovatioN Policy, IEDP, IVP, etc., Feedback from the participaNts were obtaiNed iN the preseNce of the Director at EDII-TN, CheNNai Page 02 News Lead | EDIITN News FACILITATION MEETING WITH MOU SIGNED MEDIUM ENTREPRISES IN TNGIM 2019 Prior to the Tamil Nadu Global INvestores Meet, 2019 held oN 24th aNd 25th JaNuary 2019, follow-up actioNs have beeN iNitiated by GoverNmeNt of Tamil Nadu to coNsolidate the iNvestmeNts attracted duriNg the eveNt. AccordiNgly, departmeNt of MSME, Govt of Tamil Nadu orgaNized a facilitatioN meetiNg with MoU sigNed Medium ENterprises duriNg the TNGIM 2019 oN 27.02.2019 at Hotel Le Royal MeridieN, CheNNai uNder the ChairmaNship of Thiru. Dr.RajeNdra Kumar I.A.S.,PriNcipal Secretary/INdustries CommissioNer aNd Director of INdustries aNd Commerce. Thiru T. P. Rajesh I.A.S., AdditioNal CommissioNer INdustries aNd CommeNce, Tmt R.V. ShajeevaNa, AdditioNal Director, EDII-TN aNd other officials from the departmeNt were also participated. Tmt R.V. ShajeevaNa, AdditioNal Director, EDII-TN addressed the features of Tamil Nadu Startup INNovatioN Policy 2018-23 aNd support service offered by GoverNmeNt of Tamil Nadu to the iNdustries segmeNt. TAMIL NADU INNOVATION GRAND CHALLENGE - 2018 The Tamil Nadu INNovatioN GraNd Challenge 2018, a flagship event of EDII-TN to promote iNNovatioNs aNd startups was organised during the MoNth. It is the secoNd editioN of the event, which was introduced iN 2017. The programme was orgaNized as series of three events i.e. SpriNt Hack (HackathoN), Bootcamp aNd Pitch. EDII-TN had invited applicatioNs oNliNe from start-ups all over Tamil Nadu. Of the total 82 valid applicatioNs received, 25 startups were shortlisted and called for SpriNt Hack. SpriNt Hack: The 48 hour SpriNt Hack (HackathoN) was held duriNg 15th to 17th February,2019 at Cowrks, OMR, CheNNai. 21 Startups atteNded the SpriNt Hack. At the eNd the participatiNg teams preseNted their idea/hacks to the jury. The Jury paNel coNsisted of Th. RaNjith Melarkode, CTO, SPI CiNemas, Th.VeNkatraNgaN Thirumalai, FouNder, Little Fleet Service, Th. Dorai Thodla, FouNder, IMORPH, aNd Th. Balram Nair, Vice PresideNt, CheNNai ANgels. 13 Startups were selected by the jury for the Next stage, i.e. the Boot Camp. Two Startups from the 13 selected, were graNted direct access to the fiNal PITCH eveNt by the Jury iN view of their maturity level. Page 03 News Lead | EDIITN News Boot Camp: The Bootcamp was held oN February 23rd, 2019 at SMARTWORKS, GuiNdy with the participatioN of the 11 Selected Teams. They were traiNed specifically oN “StructuriNg Your CompaNy”, “LeaN Startups” aNd “KNowiNg your Customer” by domaiN experts. Pitch : The FiNal PITCH was held oN 24th February, 2019 at SMARTWORKS, GuiNdy. 13 Selected Startups made their fiNal pitches iN the preseNce of Jury, Vishesh Rajaram, MD, Special INvest (Seed Stage INvestiNg), AparNa RammohaN, MD, Sri Sattva Group, ViNeeth VijayaraghavaN, SPI Family House/FouNder SolarillioN, Guruswamy RamasubramaNiaN, Co-FouNder, SiriusONe Capital (ANgel INvestor). The Jury made special meNtioN of the team ‘TAN90’ – a cold storage product iNNovatioN - aNd suggested that they may be exteNded marketiNg support through coNcerNed departmeNts aNd other similar support by GoverNmeNt as they are ready to lauNch their product immediately. The Jury declared the followiNg five teams as wiNNers, eligible for the Seed GraNt of Rs. 5 lakh for eNrichiNg their prototype/MVP aNd prepare for commercial lauNch. The wiNNers of TNIGC 2018 are : 1. Modulus HousiNg, 2. Carpro TechNologies, 3. WisOpt, 4.Kodate aNd 5. Madiee. Page 04 News Lead | EDIITN News SpriNt Hack: The 48 hour SpriNt Hack (HackathoN) was held duriNg 15th to 17th February,2019 at Cowrks, OMR, CheNNai. 21 Startups atteNded the SpriNt Hack. At the eNd the participatiNg teams preseNted their idea/hacks to the jury. The Jury paNel coNsisted of Th. RaNjith Melarkode, CTO, SPI CiNemas, Th.VeNkatraNgaN Thirumalai, FouNder, Little Fleet Service, Th. Dorai Thodla, FouNder, IMORPH, aNd Th. Balram Nair, Vice PresideNt, CheNNai ANgels. 13 Startups were selected by the jury for the Next stage, i.e. the Boot Camp. Two Startups from the 13 selected, were graNted direct access to the fiNal PITCH eveNt by the Jury iN view of their maturity level. TAMIL NADU STUDENTS INNOVATORS - 2018 (TNSI-2018) Tamil Nadu StudeNt INNovators Programme – 2018 (TNSI) is aN iNitiative of ENtrepreNeurship DevelopmeNt aNd INNovatioN INstitute EDII-TN to eNcourage studeNt iNNovators/eNtrepreNeurs from all over Tamil Nadu. TNSI was iNtroduced iN 2016 aNd the curreNt programme is the third editioN. This eveNt was orgaNised regioN-wise. The studeNt teams were provided opportuNity to give their iNNovative ideas as a solutioN to ideNtified validated problem statemeNts iN the field of Agriculture, INdustry, Smart cities aNd health care. Page 05 News Lead | EDIITN News TNSI-2018 witNessed 250 applicatioNs from CheNNai regioN (NortherN RegioN), 340 applicatioNs from Coimbatore regioN (WesterN RegioN) aNd 191 applicatioNs from Madurai regioN (SoutherN RegioN). EDII- TN orgaNised 10 awareNess programmes aNd 9 IdeatioN programmes duriNg Oct., 2018 to Feb. 2019 coveriNg all the NiNe EDII Hubs. ANNa UNiversity RegioNal Campus Coimbatore Hub (westerN regioN), ANNa UNiversity Hub CheNNai (NortherN regioNs) aNd Thiagarajar College of ENgiNeeriNg, Madurai Hub (SoutherN regioN) coordiNated the programme iN the respective regioNs. The NativeLead FouNdatioN- Madurai aNd FouNderPassioN FouNdatioN Coimbatore provided techNical support.