CM Pramod Sawant inaugurates new premises of Atal Incubation Centre, at GIM campus

Hyderabad/Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant inaugurated the new premises of the Atal Incubation Centre at GIM (AIC-GIM) at the Goa Institute of Management campus in Sanquelim and simultaneously unveiled four key initiatives of AICGIM aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and sustainable businesses in the state.

The new incubation centre will conduct an eight-week 'GOA INVEST-a-THON' across Goa to attract investment for Goa-based start-ups, by facilitating access to Founders of start-up ventures to leading Investors.

The four programmes which were unveiled by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant included 'iMagic', which will help identify entrepreneurial talent in Goa and harness this talent by  offering access to knowledge and mentors in order to cultivate and promote the culture of innovation.

'(S4S)3' is a programme aimed at making startups sustainable, scalable and to provide support to social impact startups. 21 such startups are expected to be incubated at the AIC-GIM, which will receive the required value-added services by AICGIM Incuabtor.

The 'We-nurture' programme is aimed at nurturing women micro-entrepreneurs with the help of corporate partners and 'RIVER', a one-year programme for entrepreneurs in-residence to work on an idea, create startups and make them scalable ventures.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that Goa was well on its way to becoming a preferred destination for startups and the AIC-GIM could play a key role in encouraging and facilitating entrepreneurship as an alternate career option for young men and women.

Said Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, “It is wonderful to know that several startups have benefitted from this AICGIM centre and will continue to do so. GIM’s efforts in higher education and contribution to the startup ecosystem in the state has made Sanquelim and the whole of Goa proud. I appeal to GIM to continue to share its knowledge and expertise to aid us in our vision to make an Atmanirbhar Bharat and Swayampurna Goa a reality.”

The 'GOA INVEST-a-THON' has been envisioned to cater to a dual purpose of enabling investments in startups in Goa and promoting 'Startup Investment' as an attractive asset class. Goan startups looking to raise up to Rs. 1 crore in investment are eligible to participate in this INVESTATHON.

AIC-GIM is conducting the INVESTATHON in association with leading Indian startup investment firms and the country's top angel investors. Syndicated investment funds were present for the much anticipated 'Startup Pitch' event held on the day of the inaugural.

The investathon will also incorporate an eight-week programme on sensitising and educating high networth individuals (HNIs) and investors in Goa about the startup ecosystem and attracting investors to the state.
The slew of novel, exciting activities at the AIC-GIM are being anchored by the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the incubation facility, Rajesh Joshi, who has a vast experience of two decades in the startup industry, as a serial entrepreneur and an angel investor himself.

According to Mr. Joshi, Goa can emerge as 'the best of the rest' startup destination in the country.
"Apart from encouraging entrepreneurship in Goa, it’s crucial to attract leading startup investors to Goa. It’s also important that we develop a local investor network. We want to evangelise GAIN (Goa Angel Investor Network). GAIN will lead to build a viable startup ecosystem in Goa. With GAIN, not only do Goa startups stand to benefit, but investors will receive significant GAINs from their startup investment," he said.

Said Prof. Ajit Parulekar, Director, GIM, “Since its inception, AICGIM has served as an active knowledge and resource catalyst for the development of promising entrepreneurs and had aided in accelerating the growth of early stage organizations from ideation to marketplace success. Goa has a progressive startup policy. The state offers all the elements required to create an ideal startup ecosystem.”

He added, “With Rajesh Joshi at the helm of affairs at the incubation centre, we are poised to offer the much-needed impetus to the start-up community in Goa.”

Present at the event were members of the GIM Board and Society, Peter D’Lima, Shivanand and Swati Salgaocar, Dean Menezes among others. Also present were investors and members of NitiAyog.

The AIC-GIM is a sector agnostic startup incubator which was started in 2018. Since then, AIC-GIM has mentored entrepreneurs, assisted, and facilitated startup growth. About 30+ startups have benefited by incubation at AIC-GIM and 50+ startups have benefitted indirectly through various boot camps events, workshops, programs conducted by the incubator facility.