Bhubaneswar, 29th September, 2023: Odisha Startup Yatra and Startup Express today achieved a phenomenal achievement of gathering more than 1780 ideas from the student community within just 12 days. It is a testament to the growing enthusiasm and creativity of student communities of the state. As the Yatra expands its reach to far flung areas and educational institutes, the number of participating students has increased substantially.
As Odisha aspires to recognize and nurture 5000 Startups by 2025, Odisha Startup Yatra and Startup Xpress playing important role in fulfilling the vision. It becomes a launch pad for idea generation from school and college students thus setting a high benchmark with sophisticated ideas.
So far, the Yatra has covered 21 districts of the state, visiting 120 colleges and 39 schools with participation from more than 16,129 students. On Friday, the vans visited 14 colleges and 2 schools, while four bootcamps were conducted in Khordha and Jajpur district and received 273 ideas with participation from 1347 students.
The Yatra covered 3 colleges and one school of Deogarh District namely Model Degree College, Degree Womens College, Govt. Polytechnic & Govt. Girls High School respectively. In Balangir, the vans visited PP Academy, JSM Commerce Degree College, Rajendra University & Govt Polytechnic. In Kalahandi District, the vans reached out to 3 colleges and 1 school – Kalahandi University, College of Agriculture (Bhawanipatna) & Govt College of Engineering and Vikash Residential School respectively. In Dhenkanal District, the vans visited IGIT Sarang, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Synergy Institute of Engineering and Technology & Dhenkanal Autonomous College. On the sidelines of Yatra, Four Bootcamps were also conducted in Jajpur and Khordha district – Prabhujee English Medium School, Capital High School, Panchayat High School (Jajpur) and Dhabalagiri High school (Jajpur).
The excitement and enthusiasm from the student community was palpable with their passionate pitches.
Odisha Startup Yatra & Xpress, taking its journey forward will tour Angul District, while expanding the Yatra furthermore will visit few more institutions of Dhenkanal, Balangir & Kalahandi district on September 30 (Saturday) to foster entrepreneurship and innovation at district level.
On Saturday Odisha Startup Yatra & Xpress will cover 4 colleges of Sambalpur District namely IIM Sambalpur, Sambalpur University, VSSUT Burla & Badri Prasad Institute of Technology. In Balangir District, the vans will visit Govt. Balangir College, CUTM Balangir & Govt. Girls High School, Balangir. In Kalahandi District, the van will visit two schools K.V. Bhawanipatna & B.M High school. In Anugul, the van will visit Govt. Polytechnic Anugul, Govt. Autonomous College & Talcher Autonomous College.
The aim of Startup Odisha Yatra and Startup Xpress 2023 is to encourage grassroots innovators and promote entrepreneurship among them. In 2023 edition of the Yatra, Startup Odisha has four dedicated vans that will cover all 30 districts of the state.
After remarkable achievements in the past edition, this year Odisha Startup Yatra aims to leap forward by visiting 200+ colleges and 60+ schools thus impacting 25,000+ students. With a core focus on guiding and empowering young minds at the grassroot level in the realms of innovation and entrepreneurship, the initiatives seek to equip them for harnessing the ample opportunities within the startup ecosystem.
