Govt of Assam committed to promote an enabling agriculture enterprise ecosystem in the state: Dr. Ashish Bhutani

Dr. Ashish Bhutani, State Project Director of Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART) said that Government of Assam is committed to promote an enabling agriculture enterprise ecosystem in the state.

Assam Agribusiness Growth Lab, an APART led acceleration program in partnership with CIIE.CO, IIM Ahmedabad’s incubator, completing its inaugural cohort, successfully staged “Pitching & Demo Day” on Friday.

The Demo Day was a coming together of stakeholders, government agencies, financial bodies, investors, buyers with the AAGL entrepreneurs in focus. Industry stalwarts present were from DIC, NEDFi, NRL, NABARD, , North East Small Finance Bank, CII, FINER, SELCO Foundation, Department of Fisheries, Department of Agriculture, ARIAS Society, World Veg, World Fish, IRRI etc.

CIIE.CO in partnership with ICCSPL is co-implementing this acceleration programme in Assam that was officially launched on 30th June 2021.

Dr. Bhutani said, “Government of Assam is committed to promote an enabling agriculture enterprise ecosystem in the state. Towards this, APART has initiated the Assam Agribusiness Growth Lab programme to foster and accelerate the growth of the agro-processing sector. APART encourages entrepreneurs to spearhead the development of the State. We welcome CIIE.CO'S effort in implementing a much-needed program for achieving results.”

Assam Agribusiness Growth Lab (AAGL) organized the Demo Day primarily to interpret its flagship journey of one year of the Cohort acceleration process. After a series of business and technical interventions and 2 Boot Camps, the cohort of 25 agri-enterprises will now be engaging with investors, buyers and market platforms leading to access to finance and markets.

The Demo Day saw 10 enterprises pitching their businesses before a group of reputed investors representing agencies as diverse as Menterra, Caspian, NEDFi, NRL, HDFC Bank, AGVB etc. showing potential for immense investment opportunities in the Agri and allied sector in Assam.

Chintan Bakshi, partner CIIE.CO and CEO Startupoasis stated, “The AAGL is a path-breaking programme not only for Assam but it is also a potential trend-setter for supporting agri-based businesses and MSMEs across India. CIIEI has used its deep expertise in startup incubation and acceleration to provide deep mentoring, business advisory, fundraising and market access support to agribusinesses from Assam. “

Freshdo App, an AAGL incubatee, which is an online essentials delivery platform for farm fresh vegetables, fruits and meat was launched during the event.