Speeches

Proud to join Rajasthan CM when she launched Rajasthan Startup Policy. Pretty progressive! Fantastic 2 days at Jaipur, as Rajasthan Startup fest rocked!

“For entrepreneurs to succeed, they need inspiration, innovation and scale,” said Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister, Rajasthan.

“India’s biggest strength for entrepreneurs is its wide range of problems to solve,”  Nagaraja Prakasam, co-founder of IAN Impact.

From sand to silicon: the first ever Startup Rajasthan Festival!

Jaipur was host to two terrific startup events this week – YourStory’s TechSparks city meetup (more on that later!) and the first ever Startup Rajasthan Festival, with two days of expo, conference and workshops. The government announced a Startup Policy, becoming the fourth state in India to have such a policy (after Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat).

“Entrepreneurship is in the blood of Rajasthan,” said Arun Nanda of the Mahindra group.  Rajesh Agarwal, MD, MicroMax, offered a range of lessons from his own startup journey, with included India-specific innovations such as a dual-SIM phone and a low-cost QWERTY phone. “Love what you do and build it further. Quickly learn from your mistakes,” he said.

“India’s biggest strength for entrepreneurs is its wide range of problems to solve,” joked Nagaraja Prakasam, co-founder of IAN Impact. India also has a huge youth dividend, which bodes well for its startup ecosystem. “70% of India’s population is less than 32 years old,” said Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Industries Minister, Rajasthan.

“For entrepreneurs to succeed, they need inspiration, innovation and scale,” said Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister, Rajasthan. In addition to the high-level pronouncements from government, there was lots of energy at the startup exhibition area outside.

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 Vasundhara Raje ‏@VasundharaBJP Oct 9

Excited to launch the first ever #Startup Policy with the aim of setting up about 500 startups by 2020 in Rajasthan.

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Rajasthan unveils start-up policy

BS Reporter/Jaipur 10 Oct 15 | 12:39 AM

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Friday released the state’s first start-up policy to promote entrepreneurship, to loud cheers by aspiring entrepreneurs and students who had gathered in large numbers for a two-day Rajasthan Startup Fest 2015 in Jaipur’s Sitapura area.

The start-up policy, unveiled by Raje while inaugurating the event, aims to strengthen the start-up eco-system in the state by setting up 50 incubators/accelerators, supporting 500 start-ups, creating 100,000 square feet of incubation, and mobilising Rs 500-crore angel/venture capital funding in the next five years.

Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Industries Minister, Rajasthan; Kunal Upadhyay, CEO, CIIE, IIM Ahmedabad; Rajesh Agarwal, Co-founder & Managing Director, Micromax; and Nagaraj Prakasam, Partner, Acumen Fund  also spoke on the occasion.

“Affirmative Action and Diversity Measures in the Private Sector”, moderated by Nagaraja Prakasam

Conference Objective:

to address caste based discrimination in Bangladesh, India and Nepal. The conference is solution focused and forward looking, with four key aims:

1. To understand on-going strategic initiatives, efforts and best practices emerging from Bangladesh, India and Nepal to address caste based discrimination, with a specific focus on Dalit women.
2. To assess the current initiatives on addressing the intersections of gender and caste in terms of meeting the needs and rights of Dalit women.
3. To examine best practices with respect to inclusion matters and the private sector.
4. To understand the emerging public policy climate on caste based discrimination, with specific focus on intersecting caste and gender discrimination.

The conference sessions will highlight equity and inclusion strategies and achievements in a number of key areas covering policies and legal frameworks, affirmative action and diversity measures, addressing multiple discrimination against Dalit women, equal economic opportunities and employment, promoting inclusion via education, media and ICT, and localising the SDGs agenda to leave no one behind. Sessions will be in the form of dialogues between expert panellists facilitated by experienced moderators, leading to the formulation of a working regional agenda for social inclusion.